Neither War Nor Peace

International comparisons of children and youth in organised armed violence

neither

Luke Dowdney

WAR norPEACE

Children in Organised Armed Violence

neither War nor Peace

neither War nor Peace international comparisons of children and youth in organised armed violence

Luke Dowdney

Executive Co-ordinator

Luke Dowdney

General Co-ordination

Viva Rio ISER (Instituto de Estudos da Religião) IANSA (International Action Network on Small Arms)

Assistant Researchers

Anna Flora Werneck Leriana Del Giudice Figueiredo Marianna Olinger Leila Lino de Souza Lima

Local Research Partners

Colombia: Ivan Ramirez / Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers (Coalición Contra la Vinculación de Niños, Niñas y Jóvenes al Conflicto Armado en Colombia). El Salvador: Marlon Carranza / Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas, Instituto Universitario de Opinión Pública (IUDOP). Ecuador: Primary Researcher: Kleber Loor / Ser Paz; Assistant Researchers: Lidice Aldas / Ser Paz and Fernando Lòpez / DNI (Defensa de los Niños Internacional). Honduras: Ernesto Bardales / Casa Alianza / Jha-Ja: Jóvenes Hondureños Adelante, Juntos Avancemos. Jamaica: Primary Researcher and author: Michael Mogensen / Viva Rio; Assistant Researchers: Sharene McKenzie / Craig Town Youth Organisation; Kenneth Wilson / August Town Sports and Community Development Foundation; and Steadman Noble / University of the West Indies, Mona. Nigeria: Mohammed Ibrahim / Centre for Democracy and Development. Northern Ireland: Marie Smyth and Patricia Campbell / Institute for Conflict Research / Breen Smyth Consultants. Philippines: Agnes Zenaida V. Camacho / University of the Philippines, Center for Integrative and Development Studies, Psychosocial Trauma and Human Rights Program. South Africa: Ted Leggett / Institute for Security Studies. United States: John M. Hagedorn / University of Illinois-Chicago, Great Cities Institute.

Co-editors of Coutry Reports

Jessica Galeria Michael Mogensen

Statisticians

Luis Eduardo Madeiro Guedes Marcelo de Souza Nascimento Jorge Restrepo (Colombia)

Translation

Jessica Galeria Michael Mogensen Carola Mittrany

Graphic Designer

Adriana Thevenard

www.coav.org.br

Editor: Mayra Jucá / Marcelo Monteiro Journalists: Michael Mogensen, Carola Mittrany Research intern: Eugenia Vieria

Financial Support

Save the Children Sweden Ford Foundation DFID – Department for International Development World Vision Casa Alianza

INDEX

Foreword by Paulo Pinheiro ................................................................................. 9 Author’s Note ..................................................................................................... 11 Introduction: Rio de Janeiro and Beyond .......................................................... 12 Methodology ...................................................................................................... 15 How to use this book ......................................................................................... 20 PART ONE – Organised Armed Groups ......................................................... 21 Areas of Study Profile ......................................................................................... 24 Historical Perspectives ........................................................................................ 29 Command Structure ........................................................................................... 33 Relations with the Community ......................................................................... 37 Role of the State ................................................................................................. 42 Economic Activities ............................................................................................ 45 Armed Violence .................................................................................................. 49 Typology of Investigated Armed Groups ........................................................... 54 Risk Factors Common to the Emergence and Continued Existence of Investigated Armed Groups .................................. 62 PART TWO – Children and Youth in Organised Armed Violence ................. 65 Personal Histories ............................................................................................... 66 Process of Involvement ........................................................................................ 70 Vulnerability and Resilience: why children join armed groups ......................... 79 The Working Functions of Children and Youth in Organised Armed Violence .... 96 Children, Youth and Armed Violence .............................................................. 109 Being a Man: gender considerations of children and youth in organised armed violence ........................................................... 117 Future Perspectives .......................................................................................... 120 PART THREE – Firearms-related Mortality ................................................. 127 PART FOUR – Treating the Problem of Children and Youth in Organised Armed Violence ........................................................ Public Policy: current trends in dealing with children and youth in organised armed violence ........................................................... Building Resilience through Prevention and Rehabilitation Interventions .... Integrated Strategic Approaches for the Prevention and Rehabilitation of Children and Youth in Organised Armed Violence .....................................

139 140 155 167 5

Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration: exchanging knowledge and breaking boundaries ............................................ 174 PART FIVE – Country Reports ...................................................................... Colombia: “Medellin: The Invisible Children of the Social and Armed Conflict” by Ivan Dario Ramirez ..................................................... Ecuador: “Ecuador’s Pandillas and Naciones – A dreadful reality and a challenging task: from victims to victimisers” by Kleber Loor, Lidice Aldas and Fernando Lòpez .................................................................... El Salvador: “Detention or death: where the ‘pandillero’ kids of El Salvador are heading” by Marlon Carranza ........................................... Jamaica: “Corner and Area Gangs of inner-city Jamaica” by Michael Mogensen ...................................................................................... Nigeria: “An Empirical Survey of Children and Youth in Organised Armed Violence in Nigeria: Egbesu Boys, OPC and Bakassi Boys as a Case Study” by Mohammed Ibrahim ....................................................... Northern Ireland: “Young people and armed violence in Northern Ireland” by Marie Smyth and Patricia Campbell ......................................................... Philippines: “Children and Youth in Organised Armed Violence in the Philippines: Contextualisation, Personal Histories and Policy Options” by Agnes Zenaida V. Camacho ........................................................................ South Africa: “Terugskiet (returning fire): Growing up on the street corners of Manenberg, South Africa” by Ted Leggett ..................................... USA: “Institutionalised Gangs and Violence in Chicago” by John Hagedorn ...........................................................................................

177 177

198 212 232

249 263

273 296 316

PART SIX – Conclusions and Recommendations .......................................... 335

DIAGRAMS 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 4.1 4.2 4.3

6

Stages of Involvement ................................................................................ 72 Risk factors and Influences in a High-risk Environment .............................. 8 7 Vulnerable Personal Context ........................................................................ 89 Resilient versus Vulnerable Personal Context ................................................. 9 4 Responding to External Risk Factors and Influences ................................... 162 Fight for Peace’s Working Methodology .................................................. 166 City / Regional Model .............................................................................. 173

TABLES 1.1 Comparing Armed Groups .......................................................................... 23 1.2 Area of Study Profiles ................................................................................... 24 1.3 Area of Study Localities ................................................................................ 26 2.1 External Risks and Influences ........................................................................ 86 2.2 The Working Functions of Children and Youth in Organised Armed Groups .................................................................... 108 3.1 Firearms-related deaths for males between 15-24 years of age for neighbourhoods in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro City compared with the same age group for the entire city, 2003 ................................... 138 GRAPHS 1.1 1.2 3.1

3.2

3.3

3.4

3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10

Scale of Importance for Comparative Criteria ....................................... 57 Typology of Armed Groups ................................................................... 59 Deaths by external causes as a percentage of all deaths amongst the total population in Chicago, El Salvador, Colombia, Medellin, Northern Ireland and Rio de Janeiro ................................................. 129 Deaths by external causes as a percentage of all deaths amongst the under 18 year-old age group in Chicago, El Salvador, Colombia, Medellin, Northern Ireland and Rio de Janeiro ................................................. 130 Firearms-related deaths as a percentage of all deaths by external causes amongst the total population in Chicago, El Salvador, Colombia, Medellin, Northern Ireland and Rio de Janeiro ................................................. 131 Firearms-related deaths as a percentage of all deaths by external causes amongst the under 18 year-old age group in Chicago, El Salvador, Colombia, Medellin, Northern Ireland and Rio de Janeiro .............. 132 Firearms-related mortality rates per 100,000 inhabitants by sex and distinct age group in El Salvador for 2000 ...................... 133 Firearms-related mortality rates per 100,000 inhabitants by sex and distinct age group in Northern Ireland for 2002............. 133 Firearms-related mortality rates per 100,000 inhabitants by sex and distinct age group in Colombia for 2002......................... 133 Firearms-related mortality rates per 100,000 inhabitants by sex and distinct age group in Rio de Janeiro for 2002 ................. 134 Firearms-related mortality rates per 100,000 inhabitants by sex and distinct age group in Chicago for 2001 ........................... 134 Firearms-related mortality rates per 100,000 inhabitants for the general population in Chicago, El Salvador, Colombia, Medellin, Northern Ireland and Rio de Janeiro ................................................. 135 7

3.11

5.1

Firearms-related mortality rates per 100,000 inhabitants for the under 18 year-old age group in Chicago, El Salvador, Colombia, Medellin, Northern Ireland and Rio de Janeiro ................................ 136 Homicide rates in six U.S. cities between 1985 and 2000................ 319

PHOTOGRAPHS 1.1 1.2 1.3 2.1 2.2 2.3 4.1

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Armed pandilleiros, Honduras (1) .............................................................. 14 Torture of an OPC Member, Nigeria ......................................................... 39 Members of the OPC, Nigeria ................................................................... 50 Tattooed pandillero, El Savador .................................................................. 77 Armed CVO members, Philippines ......................................................... 103 Armed pandilleros, Honduras (2) ............................................................. 109 Police Operations in the Morro da Providência, Rio de Janeiro ................ 147

FOREWORD The growing engagement of children and adolescents in organised armed violence is unfortunately becoming more common in some regions of the world. This engagement not only threatens the communities that may be exposed to the violence perpetrated by these groups, but frequently harms and even kills the children and adolescents who are directly involved. The World Report on Violence and Health, 2002, clearly showed that over the last ten years, those aged between 15 and 24 years are the most frequent victims of homicides around the world. In some countries, even major achievements in reducing child mortality in the younger years have not had an impact on average life expectancy because these gains are cancelled out by growing rates of homicide among adolescents and youth. These levels of violence are unacceptable; they are preventable; and they must be urgently addressed. To effectively respond to this growing form of violence, firstly, it is necessary to understand what are the root causes and consequences that characterise the context in which this violence is occurring, and rising. We need to understand when, how, and why children and adolescents are deciding to participate in organised armed violence. And why some youth groups start to become violent. These questions may then indicate more effective responses, including more appropriate reintegration of those involved, and how to prevent the enlistment of others. The United Nations Secretary-General’s Study on Violence against Children, for which I have leadership responsibility, was conceived to draw together existing research and relevant information about the forms, causes and impact of violence which affects children and young people, and to indicate proven and promising prevention, intervention and recovery measures. The study will address all forms of violence, excepting the situation of children involved in armed conflicts or war, as this was previously studied by Graca Machel. However, groups of children and adolescents involved in organised armed violence represent a problem that will be addressed by the UN study. As the title of this publication states, the phenomenon of youngsters engaged in organised armed violence is not the same as our general understanding of “war” – but it is even further away from our general understanding of “peace”. In several regions of the world the level of insecurity related to this problem is making youth violence one of the top priorities on government agendas. Special measures are being considered particularly in order to repress youth gangs; some of these conflicting with basic international standards and the advances made since the Convention on the Rights of the Child was ratified. As this report shows, the search for quick and repressive answers to this deeply complex problem may aggravate the current situation. In a recent mission to the Central American region, for example, we observed the consequences of such repressive measures. Frequently youths are detained based only on the suspicion of being members of gangs or “pandillas”. And the appalling state of juvenile offender centres is exacerbated by their incapacity to cope with the rising number of detainees. 9

The situation is complicated. To act without an understanding of the risk factors behind this violence may be ineffective and sometimes dangerous. This study brings us the personal life stories of gang members, giving insights on their influences, motivations and fears. Such insight is too often overlooked in broad policy strokes and political rhetoric. Among the measures suggested by this study are: community empowerment; gun control; socially and economically inclusive policies focused on impoverished urban areas; and fast-track education in vulnerable areas. It is also necessary to ensure the security and juridicial systems are not only more efficient, but more accountable and capable of dealing with gangs so that they can be a credible part of the solution. As this publication also shows, state violence and corruption are perverse ingredients that create a fertile breeding-ground for gang activities. Above all, we are dealing with crucial human rights issues, and our success in controlling this emergent form of violence is directly related to our capacity to incorporate the perspective of human rights as the core element of all policies, particularly those addressed to youth. The life stories of those who joined armed groups is almost invariably marked by overlapping human rights violations – many of them had no access to education, proper nutrition, housing, health care, personal safety, family protection or job possibilities. In some cases the gang turns out to be the first place where they felt respected and recognised, where they could have fun and be protected by others (despite all the violence surrounding them). As “Neither War nor Peace” shows, to try to return to the past, to use only repressive strategies, will not work. Rather it is essential to have integrated and continuous policies which can build a more positive future – policies which address the deprivation of basic rights that inhibits the positive development of these children. The way in which a society treats its children and teenagers is an extremely relevant indicator of the human rights situation. The respect of basic rights for the full development of a child is one of the first steps for the consolidation of a truly democratic and inclusive society. The situation described and analysed here must be understood as an urgent call for action, not only because we need to contain the violence of armed youth groups,but because every child and adolescent needs to have his or her rights fully respected. Paulo Pinheiro Independent Expert UN Secretary General’s Study on Violence Against Children

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AUTHOR’S NOTE Luke Dowdney During the course of this study it became clear that although there is much to gain from comparing both the armed groups investigated and their members, young or old, such comparisons must be treated with a degree of caution. Whether it be the maras of Central America or the ethnic-militia of Nigeria, the groups investigated in this study undoubtedly share commonalities in causality and function. However, to treat these groups or the people that make them up solely as homogenous entities would be problematic. Although referred to throughout as the ‘armed groups’ investigated, I hope that the following chapters will demonstrate that these groups are much more than this, and that if only understood one-dimensionally such a categorisation will greatly limit the reader’s understanding of their heterogeneity. Although dangerous, the groups presented have a number of positive attributes for those that belong to them, and in some cases, even for those that don’t. Often they fulfil social, political or economic functions within the communities they dominate. Correspondingly, most offer disenfranchised youth a fast-track to some form of social, political or economic inclusion or belonging, however limited. They also offer excitement and entertainment in places where there is often little else to do. Yet, they are also violent formations, using firearms as a tool for advancement, arming minors and utilising them in armed confrontations in the process. As the groups share commonalities and differences, so do their members. Within each group, members are not a homogeneous unit. The multiple identities of the young ‘gang member’, ‘pandillero’ or drug faction employee must not be lost in generalisations that serve the purpose of comparison and policy-making. Undoubtedly victims of violence within the environments in which they grow up, they themselves also author acts of violence that are often brutal. If we are to correctly represent the varying identities and diverse actions of these young people, we should neither victimise nor vilify them. In all countries, members of diverse groups share many similar experiences and these commonalities are an important clue to understanding their motivations and working realities. Although not an easy task, understanding these inherent diversities and commonalities is a necessary one. That we know of, two of the respondents interviewed were killed before field work for this study was completed. Rudy,1 a respondent and member of a Civilian Volunteer Organisation (CVO) was killed in a shoot-out between his CVO, government forces and the MILF2 in Maguindanao province, Philippines, on December 16, 2003. Sandra Sewell, a member of Jungle 12 and a university student and social activist was apparently shot in the back by the Jamaican Defence Force in Kingston on September 19, 2004. Due to their involvement in organised armed violence, thousands more children and young people have died during the course of this study. If the following contextual comparisons of organised armed groups and young people’s involvement within them are in any way useful for treating this growing problem, then this study will have served its purpose. 1 2

An alias. Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

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INTRODUCTION – RIO DE JANEIRO AND BEYOND The study presented here is the result of a process that began over four years ago. Between November 2001 and August 2002 Viva Rio and ISER carried out research on the working functions of children and adolescents in the favela-based drug factions of Rio de Janeiro. This research led to the publication of Children of the Drug Trade: a case study of children in organised armed violence in Rio de Janeiro.1 The case study of Rio de Janeiro has been important for a number of reasons: although not at war, there are currently more people (and specifically children) dying from small arms fire in Rio de Janeiro than in many low-level armed conflicts elsewhere2 ; although they are not politically oriented armed groups like those found in many civil wars, Rio’s drug factions are a territorial and openly armed paramilitary presence in most of the city’s favelas3 ; and the types of small arms and light weapons used by all sides in the daily conflicts between rival factions and the police, are those also encountered in any civil conflict. Viva Rio’s original research discusses the history, structure and organisation of favelabased drug factions in Rio de Janeiro. In doing this, the working functions of children and adolescents are presented and numerous similarities between ‘child soldiers’ and Rio’s estimated 5,000 child and youth drug faction workers are made. These include: ‘voluntary’ recruitment dynamics4 ; age (a focus on the 15-17 year old age group); working within a hierarchical structure enforced by orders and punishments; being paid for a service; being given a weapon; being on call twenty four hours per day; surviving in a kill-or-be-killedreality; younger and younger children being used in armed functions; and involvement in armed confrontations.5 Despite these similarities, however, the study concludes that categorising child faction workers as ‘child soldiers’ would be problematic as Rio de Janeiro is not in a state of war; although maintaining a degree of socio-political control within many favelas, drug factions have no defined political objectives and no stated interest in substituting the state. Furthermore, despite their own categorisation as such6 , if we categorise these children as ‘soldiers’, we may legitimise the already high levels of lethal state force used against them. 1

Dowdney, LT, “Children of the Drug Trade: A Case Study of Organised Armed Violence in Rio de Janeiro”, Viva Rio / ISER, 7 Letras, Rio de Janeiro, 2003. Copies in PDF format are available in English, Spanish and Portuguese language versions at www.coav.org.br in the ‘Articles’ section. 2 For example, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimates that between 1978 and 2000, a total of 39,000 people died as a result of the civil conflict in Colombia. In the same period, a total of 49,913 people died from small arms fire in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (DATASUS - Ministério de Saúde, Secretaria da Saúde do Governo do Estado do Rio de Janeiro). See Dowdney 2003: 114-117. 3 shantytowns 4 ‘voluntary’ recruitment refers, in this case, to cases where children may be choosing drug faction employment due to a lack of other options. 5 Dowdney 2003: 202-209 6 There is very specific terminology used by drug factions for a number of working positions that relate to a ranking system. One of these is ‘soldado’ or soldier.

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The study notes that there are also many similarities between child and youth drug faction workers and gang members in urban centres within the United States and elsewhere. However, drug faction command structure, the levels of armed confrontations, territorial domination and power over the local population is a far cry from traditional notions of ‘adolescent peer groups’. Describing minors that are given a war grade weapon and paid a salary to walk openly armed within a favela community on defensive patrol as ‘juvenile delinquents’ also seems inadequate. In spite of similarities to both semantic categories, for all their worth definitions such as ‘child soldier’ or ‘delinquent’ have failed to correctly represent the growing number of children and youths in Rio de Janeiro and around the world that participate in organised armed groups functioning outside of traditionally defined war zones. Called to task on this problem, during the ‘Seminar on Children affected by Organised Armed Violence’ held by Viva Rio in September, 2002, international participants7 agreed on a working definition for child and youth armed drug faction workers in Rio, and those in similar armed groups elsewhere: Children and Youth in Organised Armed Violence (COAV) – “Children and youth employed or otherwise participating in Organised Armed Violence where there are elements of a command structure and power over territory, local population or resources.” International participants also noted the importance of charting the occurrence and comparing similar situations of this problem in other countries. In such contexts definitions can be problematic, limiting and even dangerous as their usage can determine the treatment of those they seek to define. Consequently, they become as practical as they are conceptual. Yet, definitions are important because through them we may begin to gain a better understanding of what we are dealing with, and it is only through this process that ‘treatment’ can be successful. Definitions, therefore, must be employed where they are useful, but not viewed as binding truths. In this case, a working definition has enabled the establishment of semantic parameters for the comparison of child and youth involvement in armed violence within the diverse countries and armed groups presented here. The primary purpose of this comparison is one of ‘treatment’ of the problem. With such a practical overriding objective, this study avoids making a moral judgement regarding the violent and even homicidal acts of children and youth in organised armed violence. When discussing the repressive and often lethal involvement of state forces within the universe being described, the study also tries to do so without moral bias. Accepting the diversity and heterogeneity of the groups investigated, the study’s aims are: 1) To identify regions affected by COAV; 2) To increase knowledge of COAV and generate new data on country / region-specific manifestations of the problem; 3) To share information, identify successful pilot programmes and advance programme development to treat the problem of COAV; 4) To build research capacity regarding COAV amongst practitioners in affected regions; 5) To identify region-specific and global trends of COAV; 7

See ‘Methodology’ for a full list of participants.

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6) To raise awareness of COAV in order that the situation is recognised, better understood and included on the child protection agenda; 7) To produce policy oriented guidelines for policy makers within the international forum for the implementation of practical steps to treat the problem. In attempting to fulfil these objectives, this study is the result of partnerships with numerous local researchers. The study process also resulted in the establishment of www.coav.org.br, a daily updated news service in English, Spanish and Portuguese that has focused on news, interviews, opinions, good practice examples of projects and policy related to this issue since July 2003. Undoubtedly there is scope for further study in this arena, perhaps more theoretical or academic in its objective and discourse. Accepting its limitations, this study aims to be a starting point for the comparison of organised armed groups and the children and youth that make up their members. Such comparisons may ultimately need to be taken further if innovative programmes for the treatment of this problem are to be designed and successfully implemented.

Photograph 1.1 Armed pandilleros, Honduras (1) / Jha-Ja 2004. Pandilleros from Barrio 18 may be armed aggressors, but they are also victims of fatal violence, a fact clearly demonstrated by their provocative poses in this photograph taken by fellow members.

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METHODOLOGY This research was originally designed to be a rapid assessment study1 based on qualitative data collected within and without the field, and relevant quantitative public health data where possible. Although data collection was originally to be completed in five months, due to the nature of the groups being investigated a number of difficulties were encountered in the field and consequently data collection took 12 months to complete. All local partners that collected data have a long history of in-the-field experience without which they would not have been able to secure such high levels of access to the investigated groups. As a result of these two factors this study became more ‘in-depth’ than originally planned. Semantic parameters: The semantic parameters for case studies of children and youth in organised armed violence to be included in this study were set by participants at the Seminar on Children Affected by Organised Armed Violence, 9-10 September, 2002, hosted by Viva Rio in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil2. A majority consensus was reached on the following category to act as a working definition of children within non-war situations of group armed violence. “Children and youth3 employed or otherwise participating in Organised Armed Violence where there are elements of a command structure and power over territory, local population or resources.”

The age definition of “youth” may be country specific, however, key informants for this study involved in organised armed groups included children under the age of eighteen years, and youth over the age of eighteen years that had become involved whilst minors. 1 Scrimshaw, Susan & Elena Hurtado, Rapid assessment procedures for nutrition and primary health care: anthropological approaches to improving programme effectiveness, Reference series; v. 11 (UCLA Latin American Center Publications (Firm)); Tokyo: United Nations University; Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center Publications, University of California, c1987. 2 At this seminar, Viva Rio presented results from the study Children of the Drug Trade: a case study of children in organised armed violence in Rio de Janeiro (Dowdney 2003). Participants at the seminar included Brazilian non-governmental organisations and government agencies, such as representatives from the state juvenile justice system — including the General Department for Social and Educational Actions and the 2nd Civil District for Adolescents and Youth — and the following international non-governmental organisations, foundations, foreign government representatives and UN agencies: Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers (CSC) Regional and Colombian offices; Human Rights Watch; International Alert; Save the Children Sweden; Save the Children UK; DFAIT and CIDA of the Canadian Government; United Nations Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children in Armed Conflict; Quaker United Nations Office in Geneva; UNESCO Brazil; UNICEF – Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean; UNICEF – Brazil Office; International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA); The Ford Foundation; World Vision; Association for the Reconstruction of Hope (Associação Reconstruindo a Esperança) Mozambique. 3 The word “youth” was added to the working definition, which had originally only included ‘children’, at the training workshop held by Viva Rio in Rio de Janeiro, 21-24 July, 2003, for researchers participating in this study. Participants felt it was important to include the word “youth” in order to represent young people over the age of eighteen years that may have first become involved in organised armed violence whilst still minors, and to reflect the fact that the majority of those involved in armed groups of the type investigated here are in fact young people and not children.

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“Employed” may be understood as involving either financial remuneration or other types of payment ‘in kind’. “Participation” includes cases where children or youth are involved without receiving payment of any sort, although they have clear functional involvement of some description. “Power over” is understood as some level of dominion over the local population, territory or resources. “Armed violence” refers to violence that specifically involves the use of small arms and light weapons (e.g. firearms). “Armed violence” may also include the threat of violence by the use of openly armed actors in order to solicit control / dominion, in addition to armed confrontations in which firearms are discharged. Considering this working definition, and for the purposes of this study, the following cases were not considered for inclusion: situations of declared war in which children involved in armed conflicts are categorised as ‘child soldiers’4 ; individuals involved in armed violence who do not recognise themselves as belonging to a group with both a command structure and some degree of power over territory, local population or resources. Selecting case studies: In April 2003, a ‘call for information’ was sent by e-mail to research institutes, child protection networks, NGOs and international agencies from all over the world, requesting information on the involvement of children in armed groups acting outside of traditionally defined situations of ‘war’. Local organisations from the following countries sent reports indicating some level of involvement of minors in diverse types of armed groups: USA; Haiti; Jamaica; Colombia; Guatemala; Honduras; El Salvador; Nicaragua; Angola; Sierra Leone; Nigeria; South Africa; Philippines; Russia; and Northern Ireland. This information was analysed by a virtual working group5 in order to verify to what extent presented situations were within the semantic parameters for this study. Considerations were also made regarding the severity of the problem, potential access to informants, both adults and minors working directly for the groups, and on the research capacity of the local partner organisation. The case studies selected are listed in Part I. Local researchers selected are presented via Country Reports in Part V. Training workshop: Selected research partners were invited by Viva Rio to a training workshop in Rio de Janeiro on July 21-24, 2003. The workshop aimed to: facilitate the exchange 4

Case studies of Civilian Volunteer Organisations (CVOs) acting as private armies in the Philippines and bandas delincuentes under the control of urban based paramilitary groups in Medelin, Colombia, were included in this study. Although still adhering to the working definition, both of these case studies are in countries in armed conflict and within some situations children in these groups may also be involved in these conflicts. However, within both the Philippines and Colombia child members of these groups are not recognised by the authorities as ‘child soldiers’. 5 Consisting of the following members: Per Tamm, Regional Director, Latin America, Save the Children Sweden; Denise Stuckenbruck, Communications Officer, Latin America, Save the Children Sweden; Rubem César Fernandes, Executive Director, Viva Rio; Luke Dowdney, Programme Co-ordinator COAV, Viva Rio; Rebecca Peters, Director, IANSA; Michael Bochenek, Counsel, Children’s Rights Division, Human Rights Watch; Jo Becker, Advocacy Director, Children’s Rights Division, Human Rights Watch; Rachel Brett, Associate Representative, Human Rights and Refugees, Quaker United Nations Office; Lisa Monteira, Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers; Massimo Toschi, Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict United Nations; Bart Vrolik, Programme Officer Latin America, Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict United Nations.

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of information and further participants’ understanding of country-specific manifestations of the problem; discuss definitional criteria for country case studies to be included in the research; and reach consensus on data collection, research methodology and report writing for the research project. Viva Rio presented both a qualitative and quantitative methodological design for the study to participants and the following framework was agreed on. Methodological Framework Previous research has proven the necessity of using diverse research techniques for collecting data relevant to armed violence. Therefore, local data collection included a combination of bibliographical and other document sources, as well as the other forms of primary and secondary qualitative and quantitative data outlined below. Even though the scope of the study was pre-defined and pre-determined, the data collection methodology presumed adaptations to allow for the local reality. Data collection took place between September 2003 and August 2004. Qualitative data collection: The study was carried out in three stages, each corresponding to a research module that culminated in the presentation of local results via a report sent by e-mail to Viva Rio. The completion of all three modules comprised a complete Country Report. Each Country Report was edited by Viva Rio to provide a chapter for this publication. Full Country Reports can be found at www.coav.org.br. Module I consisted of a contextualised summary characterising the local manifestation of organised armed violence. Research variables for Module 1 consisted of defined topics for the following themes: area of study profile (country/city/community); brief historical analysis of the situation; armed group(s) involved; command structure of armed group(s); relations between group(s) and the community; role of the state in group(s) activities; economic activities of the group(s); involvement of group(s) in armed confrontation; other. Exact data sources for completion of this module varied by country although all local researchers did utilise the following wherever possible: published research; media reports; police reports; interviews with adults involved in armed groups / community members not involved in armed groups / police and state forces who are actors in the situation / ex-members of armed groups; and participant observation. Comparative analysis of data from Module I is presented in Part I of this publication. Module II consisted of the collection of qualitative data via formal (semi-structured) and informal interviews with children and youth involved in organised armed groups. Informants were approached in a manner that put both the interviewer and informants at minimal risk. All selected local researchers had experience within their own countries in working with related situations and themes and individual discretion regarding approaching and interviewing informants was maintained.6 6

This included: negotiating with adults/leaders via intermediaries before speaking to children and youths; being transparent to children/community about the study; interviewing children outside of their communities or in neutral spaces where necessary; asking children how their security would not be placed at risk; being cautious to not make children emotionally vulnerable through questioning.

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Informants were primarily under eighteen years of age, although older youths with a history of involvement dating back to their childhood/adolescence were also interviewed. The gender of those interviewed tended to reflect the gender ratio of those involved as the majority of informants were randomly selected. Viva Rio did not stipulate a specific number of formal or non-formal interviews to be carried out by local researchers. However, a minimum of ten non-formal and formal interviews were completed in each case study, amounting to a sum of 120 interviews in total from all case studies. As presented in the following table, 111 of these respondents were male and nine were female. Male respondents

Female respondents

United States El Salvador Ecuador Colombia Brazil7 Jamaica Nigeria South Africa Philippines

12 10 10 10 25 8 19 7 10

2 2 2 1 1 1 -

Total

111

9

Country

Formal interviews were not scripted. However, in order to facilitate cross-country analysis semi-structured interviews followed defined topics within the following research variables: Personal history (family/educational/economic background); Process of involvement (including age; recruitment method; stages of involvement; reasons stated for involvement); Working functions (including position within structural organisation/group hierarchy; function(s) realised; payment); Armed violence (including types of firearms utilised; firearm bought/stolen/given; training given; experience in armed confrontations); and Future perspectives (desire of respondent to stay involved in the future). Comparative analysis of data from Module II is presented in Part II of this publication. Module III consisted of outlining key public policies designed specifically or being utilised to deal with children and youth in organised armed violence within the countries being covered by the study. Policy evaluations included interviews with local government officials where possible. Researchers were also asked to highlight two good practice case studies of projects (civil society/government or other) working with the target group in their locality. Project evaluations were made via field visits and interviews with project staff and benefi7 Transcripts of interviews completed during research for Children of the Drug Trade: a case study of children in organised armed violence, Dowdney, L.T., Viva Rio / ISER, 7Letras, Rio de Janeiro, 2003, were used for comparative analytical purposes.

18

ciaries based on the following indicators: objectives; methodology; activities; outputs; and results. Researchers were also asked to make clear and attainable suggestions for policy / practice improvement at the local level. Comparative analysis of data from Module III is presented in Part IV of this publication. In addition to the collection of data by local partners within the countries included in the study, related information from around the world was collected daily during the study via the internet by three professional journalists working on Viva Rio’s children and youth in organised armed violence website www.coav.org.br. This information was partly utilised for this report and also displayed daily via news articles on the website in English, Spanish and Portuguese languages. Throughout the course of the study electronic newsletters were sent biweekly to a total of 7,959 subscribers from around the globe.8 Quantitative data collection: During the course of the study local partners and Viva Rio collected public health statistics relating to mortality by external causes (including firearmsrelated) in categories utilised by the World Health Organisation (International Classification of Diseases and Health Related Problems, tenth revision (ICD-10)), desegregated by relevant geographical areas (where possible), gender, and age groups relevant to the study. Categories that were included for data collection are outlined in Part III. Limitations: A case study of state sponsored and politically-oriented armed groups in Haiti known as popular organisations or chimera, and community-based criminal gangs known as zenglendo, both of which are reportedly arming and utilising the working services of teenagers, was originally included in the research process. Research on these armed groups from Haiti was, however, discontinued due to death threats being made to the local researcher and concerns for his safety. Access to armed teenagers allegedly working on behalf of paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland, or members of paramilitary groups willing to comment on this situation, was not obtained and, as a result, this case study is not included in comparative analysis.9 A chapter on the situation in Northern Ireland is, however, presented. Although maras and pandillas in Honduras were investigated and included as a comparative case study, interviews with child and youth members were limited due to a lack of access caused by extensive police repression under the government’s anti-gang policy. For this reason, although armed adolescent and youth pandilleros were interviewed and photographed by researchers, interviews could not be taped and consequently there are no quotes from Honduran pandilleros in Part II. Furthermore, as data collection was not completed, there is not a country report chapter on Honduras in Part V. There were also a number of limitations encountered during the collection of quantitative data which are briefly outlined in Part III.

8

This was the total number of subscribers registered by December 2004. Firearms-related mortality rates and other related quantitative data was collected by local researchers in Northern Ireland. As a result, Northern Ireland is included in comparative analysis of relevant public health data in Part III.

9

19

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK This publication aims to address issues relevant to professionals working in fields related to children and youth in organised armed violence, whether they are in the public, academic, private or organised civil society sectors. Given the time constraints many such professionals encounter in their working lives, the publication has been structured in both a practical and user-friendly format. Parts I – IV are based on the comparative analysis of research variables1 of all investigated armed groups from the different countries covered by this study. In doing so, Parts I – IV aim to identify commonalities and diversities of the groups studied and the children and youth members interviewed, as well as find common trends in policy designed or utilised to treat the problem. For a full understanding of the investigated theme, chapters should be read consecutively. However, the reader may choose to read some chapters only, depending on particular interests in one or more of the research variables addressed here. When research variables need to be interrelated for a better understanding of certain topics within them, footnotes, such as “See ‘Areas of study profile’”, will direct the reader to the necessary chapter. Part V consists of Country Reports written by local research partners that give a fuller presentation of each case study. It is not necessary to read Part V in order to have an adequate understanding of the comparative analysis presented in Parts I – IV and the conclusions and recommendations presented in Part VI. The reader may choose to read one or a number of chapters in Part V that are of interest either personally or professionally. However, reading all or some chapters in Part V will considerably advance the reader’s understanding of the investigated theme. For logistical reasons, chapters in Part V are summarised versions of complete Country Reports which can be found in their entirety at www.coav.org.br. Part VI presents the study’s conclusions. It also makes a number of policy and practice orientated recommendations for the diverse actors that have the job of treating the problem of children and youth in organised armed violence in its diverse yet related manifestations.

1

See ‘Methodology’

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PART I ORGANISED ARMED GROUPS In order to better understand the participation of children in organised armed violence, it is imperative to better understand the groups to which they pertain. This section discusses the armed groups involved in this study in order to highlight key commonalities and differences in the research variables investigated.1 Using the working definition of organised armed violence,2 a typology of organised armed groups investigated during this study is presented. It is then suggested that despite a number of clear differences in their organisational structure, function and dominion over territory, population and resources, there are a number of shared external risk factors that are prevalent to the emergence and continued dominance of Types 1, 2 and 3 armed groups. The groups investigated for this study range from informally organised and partially armed youth gangs to hierarchical and heavily armed militias and paramilitary organisations. To varying degrees, all groups meet the definitional criteria of organised armed violence outlined in the working definition. The following groups from ten countries were investigated. Brazil – Territorially defined drug factions which dominate poor communities, or favelas, in Rio de Janeiro. The main drug factions being the Comando Vermelho (CV), Terceiro Comando (TC), Terceiro Comando Puro (TCP) and Amigos dos Amigos (ADA).3 Colombia – Territorial criminal groups that operate in poor communities, or comunas, in the city of Medellin known as bandas delincuentes, that work with or are subordinate to urban-based paramilitary organisations, such as the Bloques Cacique Nutibara (BCN) and Bloque Metro, or drug dealing groups referred to as narcotraficantes. The study addresses the synergies between these three distinct yet mutually involved groups, interviewing children from both the urban paramilitaries and the bandas delincuentes. Ecuador – Informally organised and local territorial urban youth gangs referred to as pandillas, and hierarchical and highly organised youth gangs which exist at the national level known as naciones. El Salvador and Honduras – Organised territorial youth gangs, known as maras or pandillas, that originated in Los Angeles amongst the El Salvadorian immigrant population, but have since become established in urban centres within these two countries (and others in Cen1

See ‘Methodology’. See ‘Semantic parameters’. 3 Where relevant, data collected during the Viva Rio study, Children of the Drug Trade: a case study of children in organised armed violence, Dowdney, L.T., Viva Rio / ISER, 7 Letras, Rio de Janeiro, 2003., was used for the comparative analysis presented in Parts I – IV and Part VI. All references hereafter to ‘Dowdney 2003’ refer to this publication. 2

21

tral America and elsewhere). The two pandillas focused on were: Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS) and Barrio 18. Jamaica – Community-based territorial groups in poor areas of Kingston and Spanish Town, known as area gangs, which have their roots in the political patronage and political violence that characterised Jamaican electoral politics in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, but have increasingly become involved in criminal activity. Child and youth involvement in corner gangs, less organised and smaller armed groupings often involved in street crime, is also investigated. Nigeria – Armed vigilante groups, such as the Bakassi Boys, and ethnic-militias, such as the Egbesu Boys and the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC). These groups have emerged in geographically and ethnically distinct areas of the country, most notably since the implementation of democratic rule in May 1999, and exist as an expression of local or ethnic autonomy from state forces. Philippines – Civilian vigilante groups, known as Civilian Volunteer Organisations (CVOs), legally established in the 1980s as self-help community protection groups. The study focuses on those CVOs which have been armed and are being used as private armies by local politicians and powerful traditional leaders in Maguindanao province. South Africa – Coloured4 criminal street gangs in the Cape Flats (Cape Town) that have been a feature of coloured communities there for over fifty years, and are aligned to prison gangs, known as the numbers. The study focuses on the Americans, aligned to the 26s prison gang, and the Hard Livings, aligned to the 28s prison gang. USA – Institutionalised5 street gangs in Chicago that have been present in poor Black and Hispanic urban communities for over fifty years. These include: The Conservative Vice Lord Nation (CVLN); The Black Gangster Disciples; The Black P. Stone Nation; and The Almighty Latin Kings and Queens Nation (ALKQN). **** Using the research variables considered, the following table summarises the commonalities and differences found when comparing these groups. The significance of this comparison is explained by variable and theme in the following chapters in Part I.

4

The term ‘coloured’ is used to describe those of mixed ethnic background (i.e. not of pure African, Asian or European lineage) and was used by the apartheid government although it continues to be used today. According to South African’s national census in 2000, coloureds make up 9% of the South African population. 5 “While gangs begin as unsupervised adolescent peer groups and most remain so, some institutionalise in barrios, favelas, ghettos, and prisons. Often these gangs become business enterprises within the informal economy and a few are linked to international criminal cartels. Most gangs share a racial or ethnic identity and a mediadiffused oppositional culture. Gangs have variable ties to conventional institutions and, in given conditions, assume social, economic, political, cultural, religious, or military roles.” From Hagedorn, John, edited, Gangs in Late Modernity in Gangs in the Global City. University of Illinois Press. In Press.

22

23

Table 1.1 Comparing Armed Groups

AREAS OF STUDY PROFILE The following table presents a number of comparable variables for countries and municipalities involved in this study. Table 1.2 Area of Study Profiles

NB. All data from the above sources refers to years including and between 1999 and 2002.

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Table 1.2 clearly demonstrates great differences between the countries and municipalities in which investigated armed groups operate. Populations are diverse both in their size and the percentage that live in urban/rural areas. Some countries register high levels of development, and others extremely low. There is also great diversity between the levels of poverty and education, access to water and sewage, literacy, unemployment and life expectancy amongst populations in these localities. Although the above table gives an impression of the countries and urban centres in which organised armed violence occurs, it must be noted that the problem does not affect countries or even cities in a uniform manner. In urban centres, organised armed violence tends to be neighbourhood or community specific and does not affect a city or country’s population equally. Where the problem includes rural areas, such as with the Egbesu Boys in the Niger Delta or the CVOs of Maguindanao province, group activity also tends to be specific to demarcated areas such as local villages or provinces. Table 1.3 below presents the types of areas in which investigated armed groups are manifest and, where possible, the exact location of study for each country. Despite their obvious geographical diversity, the following themes are common to all or the majority of areas where investigated armed groups are present. Marginalised and underdeveloped urban environments: With the exception of case studies in the Philippines and Nigeria, armed groups investigated are all from urban settings. Furthermore, these groups are specific to certain areas within urban centres, principally socioeconomically marginalised neighbourhoods distinct from the cities that surround them by names such as favelas, comunas, colonias, townships or ghettos. Local populations within the areas of study in Medellin, San Salvador, Lagos, Rio de Janeiro, Guayaquil and Cape Town originally comprised of a high percentage of urban migrants arriving in search of work. Rapid migration resulted in unplanned and often makeshift housing in locations that were often illegal and lacked sufficient urban infrastructure. In many cases these communities continue to be underdeveloped today, and differentiated from neighbouring districts due to inadequate public services. Such enclaves of poverty are also found in Chicago where many neighbourhoods remain racially divided and poverty is concentrated in African American ghettoes. In North Lawndale, for example, the population is 99% African American and over half the neighbourhood’s children are living in poverty.1 In the rural areas of the Philippines and Nigeria where armed groups are active, poverty is also extremely prevalent; Maguindanao is one of the poorest provinces in the Philippines, ranking 73 out of 77 in 2000,2 and Nigeria recorded poverty at 90.8% of the population in 2002.3 1

2000 US Census as cited by Hagedorn., John M., “Institutionalised Gangs and Violence in Chicago” (2005), University of Illinois-Chicago, Great Cities Institute, at www.coav.org.br. 2 Statistics and data taken from pg.9, Social Assessment of Conflict-Affected Areas in Mindanao, Environment and Social Development Unit, World Bank East Asia and Pacific Region, 2003., as cited by Camacho., Agnes Z.V. & Puzon, Marco P. & Ortiga, Yasmin P., “Children and Youth in Organised Armed Violence in the Philippines: Contextualisation, Personal Histories and Policy Options” (2005), Psychosocial Trauma and Human Rights Program Centre for Integrative and Development Studies University of the Philippines, at www.coav.org.br. 3 World Bank

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Table 1.3 Area of Study Localities

High population density: In many of the above-noted urban settings, the population density is high. For example, in the Zona One district of Medellin, where some of the comunas dominated by armed groups are situated, there is an average of 1 resident per 26

square metre. In the wealthier Zona 5 district, however, there is the equivalent of 1 resident for every 11 squared metres of land.4 A similar scenario is found in El Salvador where the national average for population density, at 309 residents per square kilometre, compares favourably to some of the poorer areas of the city’s capital where maras are a strong presence.5 In Cuscatancingo, for example, the population density stands at 18,777 inhabitants per square kilometre. High percentage of minors and youths in the local population: Due to a lack of available information it was not possible to analyse demographic statistics concerning many of the communities being covered by this study. Relevant statistics that were available, however, demonstrate that in many of the settings in which armed groups operate, there is a high percentage of minors and youths within the local population. For example, El Salvador has a notably young population, 44% being under 18 years of age6 . In 2001, 28.6% of Jamaicans were in the 0-14 age group and 20.1% in the 15-24 age group7 , making a total of 48.7% of the population younger than 24 years of age. According to UNICEF, an estimated 971,000 Jamaicans were under 18 years of age in 2002.8 High expectation for minors to work yet a relatively high level of youth unemployment: In many of the settings where armed groups were investigated there exist high expectations amongst families in poor neighbourhoods for adolescents and youths to work. Young people often make up a significant part of the formal and informal work force. However, youth unemployment remains high and often disproportionate to other sections of society. For example, in Honduras during 2002, national unemployment stood at 6.2% (urban) and 6.3% (rural), yet unemployment amongst young people between 15 and 29 years of age was at 9.8%.9 In the Metropolitan Area of San Salvador during 2002, 46,640 children and youths between 12 and 19 years of age, equivalent to 12% of this age bracket, were employed.10 In the same year, the 15 to 29 year-old age bracket was most affected by unemployment.11 In Medellin, extremely high levels of unemploy4

See Ramirez., Ivan, “Medellin: The Invisible Children of the Social and Armed Conflict” (2005), Coalición Contra la Vinculación de Niños, Niñas y Jóvenes al Conflicto Armado en Colombia, at www.coav.org.br. 5 Dirección General de Estadística y Censos (DIGESTYC) (2003). Encuesta de Hogares de Propósitos Múltiples del año 2002 (EHPM). San Salvador: Ministerio de Economía de El Salvador, as cited by Carranza., Marlon, “Detention or death: where the ‘pandillero’ kids of El Salvador are heading” (2005), Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas / Instituto Universitario de Opinión Pública (IUOP), at www.coav.org.br. 6 Ibid. 7 World Population Prospects, United Nations, New York, 2002. 8 UNICEF http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/jamaica_statistics.html 9 ILO / CINTERFOR: Jóvenes y empleo en los noventa, Montevideo, 2001. 10 Dirección General de Estadística y Censos (DIGESTYC) (2003). Encuesta de Hogares de Propósitos Múltiples del año 2002 (EHPM). San Salvador: Ministerio de Economía de El Salvador, as cited by Carranza., Marlon, “Detention or death: where the ‘pandillero’ kids of El Salvador are heading” (2005), Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas / Instituto Universitario de Opinión Pública (IUOP), at www.coav.org.br. 11 Ibid.

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ment for the general population have been recorded. Unemployment stood at 24% in 200012 although this subsequently decreased to 20% in 2003. Low levels of education amongst the local population including youth: A number of cities and countries focused on for this study register notably low levels of education amongst their youths. In Honduras by 1998, for example, only an estimated 9.3% of the 15 to 24 year-old age group had completed secondary level education or above.13 According to the 2000 Census, in Maguindanao province, Philippines, only 42% of the local population had attended or completed elementary level education, and only 18% had attended or completed high school.14 In the municipality of Rio de Janeiro in 2000, 42% (1,243,068) of the 15-24 year-old age group (2,616,399) had failed to complete primary level education.15 *** The following chapters in Part I will give a fuller picture of the kind of settings in which the armed groups investigated are active. Yet from this brief overview of the localities they dominate, there already emerges a pattern. As outlined above, areas affected by organised armed violence in all its forms appear to be urban enclaves of poverty that are underdeveloped, distanced from the state via differentiated policy and poor provision of public services, and densely populated. Furthermore, these areas tend to be in cities or countries that have populations comprising of a notably high percentage of adolescents and youths, where adolescent labour in the formal and informal markets is common despite disproportionately high levels of unemployment and low levels of education amongst this group. Although in a rural setting, areas in the Philippines and Nigeria dominated by CVOs and ethnicmilitia respectively also share many of these characteristics.

12

Gobernación de Antioquia. Planeación Departamental. Anuario Estadístico. 2000, as cited by Ramirez (2005). 13 ILO / CINTERFOR: Jóvenes y empleo en los noventa, Montevideo, 2001. 14 Statistics taken from the 2002 Press Release, National Statistics Office, Results of the 2000 Census of Population and Housing, released October 1, 2002, as cited in Camacho., Agnes Z.V. & Puzon, Marco P. & Ortiga, Yasmin P., “Children and Youth in Organised Armed Violence in the Philippines: Contextualisation, Personal Histories and Policy Options” (2005), Psychosocial Trauma and Human Rights Program Centre for Integrative and Development Studies University of the Philippines, at www.coav.org.br. 15 IBGE – Censo Demográfico 2000, INEP – Censo Educacional 2002.

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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES The following commonalities relating to the establishment and history of the groups investigated were found: • The armed groups investigated have a long or medium term history. In six of ten countries involved in the study, investigated groups originated before or during the 1970s. For example, coloured gangs in South Africa have been a major feature in coloured communities within the Cape Flats since the 1940s. The prison numbers gangs, also in South Africa, have their origins in the Ninevites, a Zulu gang that was active at the turn of the last century. The Comando Vermelho, Rio de Janeiro’s first and largest drug faction, was originally formed by prisoners in the maximum security prison of Cândido Mendes during the 1970s1 and has dominated around 60% of favelas in the city since the mid 1980s.2 Although CVOs in the Philippines were not established until the 1980s, the roots of using CVOs as private armies by local politicians and clan leaders can be found in the Datu system3 that dates back hundreds of years. In three of the countries involved in the study, investigated groups originated in the 1980s. Although some claim that the arrival of maras and pandillas in El Salvador came with the deportations of El Salvadorian gang members from the United States post 19924 , youth gangs did exist in the country during the 1980s. Youth pandillas were present in Honduras and Ecuador as early as the 1980s. The only groups investigated that have a relatively recent history are the ethnic-militia and vigilante groups in Nigeria, which began to emerge post 1994 and have been especially prevalent since 1999, when democratic rule was established. • In eight of the countries covered by this study, the armed groups investigated do not have criminal origins. To varying degrees all groups presented in this report are currently involved in criminal activity. However, in eight of the ten of the countries involved in this study, the armed groups investigated do not have criminal origins. For example, both the coloured gangs from the Cape Flats and the Black and Hispanic gangs found in the ghettos of Chicago were originally unarmed protective neighbourhood formations. Coloured gangs in South Africa were formed in order to fend off skollies (wandering criminals) and Hispanic street gangs in the USA were created for the protection of recently-arrived immigrants during the 1950s 1

Dowdney 2003:29 Dowdney 2003:265 3 A traditional socio-political structure based on kinship, see Camacho., Agnes Z.V. & Puzon, Marco P. & Ortiga, Yasmin P., “Children and Youth in Organised Armed Violence in the Philippines: Contextualisation, Personal Histories and Policy Options” (2005), Psychosocial Trauma and Human Rights Program Centre for Integrative and Development Studies University of the Philippines, at www.coav.org.br. 4 The civil war in El Salvador lasted from 1980 until 1992 and many El Salvadorians were given political exile in the United States during this period. 2

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and rarely used firearms during this period. The Conservative Vice Lord Nation, originally known as the Vice Lords, got their name in part from a “conservative” orientation toward their community. During the 1970s this included developing legitimate businesses, numerous social projects and recreational centres, and they even received funding from private foundations and government. The pandillas in Ecuador originated in the early 1980s as gatherings of adolescents in public spaces, who dressed in a defined fashion and went to musical parties or bailes. The Bakassi Boys were established in the late 1990s by commercial traders to combat crime in Aba, following a plague of armed robberies in the city’s market and a feeling amongst residents that government security forces were not effective. Similarly, CVOs in the Philippines were originally established in the 1980s as legally defined self-help groups. In two of the countries involved in the study, investigated groups were armed and criminal in their origin. The Comando Vermelho in Rio de Janeiro was initially formed by prisoners serving life sentences for armed robbery in order to dominate the prison population and secure rights within the prison system. However, the group quickly became a tool to control crime within the city.5 The bandas delincuentes in Colombia also have their roots in criminal activities. • Due to external factors, all of the armed groups investigated transformed to become armed or more armed, violent or more violent, and involved or more involved in criminal activities. Regardless of their origins all groups presented in this report are now involved in criminal activity, armed violence and extra-judicial killings. For many, this transformation came as a result of the following external factors: Illicit drugs – In nine of the ten countries involved in the study, investigated groups are currently involved in the illicit retail drug market within the areas they dominate. Six of these groups were not originally involved in drug dealing. The sale of illicit drugs gave many groups the chance to become self-financing. Furthermore, as the young people that make up the rank and file of street gangs, maras, factions, bandas delincuentes and area gangs are typically poorly educated and socio-economically marginalised, they were a ready labour force for such a business venture. The groups investigated tended to begin dealing in illicit drugs in the 1980s, which produced the following effects: 1) they became increasingly territorial and organised, often establishing a hierarchical command structure; 2) they increasingly used violence as a tool for control and domination; 3) they came into contact with criminal organisations and became more competitive with other groups; and 4) they often became internally fragmented and internal violent disputes became increasingly common. A clear example of this can be seen in the alignment between prison number gangs and coloured street gangs in Cape Town following the growth of the drug trade in the 1980s. Furthermore, shortly after the arrival of crack cocaine in Cape Town in 1994, the notorious 28 aligned gang boss from Vahalla Park, Colin Stanfield, organised a gang alliance called 5

Dowdney 2003:29

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‘The Firm’ in an attempt to organise all local gangs into a single money-making unit and reduce in-fighting. In Kingston, involvement in the drug trade gave area gangs the ability to become self-financing and this led to their increased independence from politicians, as they no longer needed to depend on political patronage. In Rio de Janeiro, between 19831986, the Comando Vermelho established control of favela communities as defendable, territorial and logistical bases for the sale of cocaine and marijuana.6 Access to firearms – All groups investigated have easy access to licit or illicit firearms (see Part III). Although individuals in the groups investigated may privately own firearms, without exception, all groups maintain control over communally used weapons. As a result of their increasing accessibility to firearms, and in many cases due to the territorial related violence that was exacerbated by involvement in the drug trade, most of the groups investigated have made concerted efforts to become better armed. In the drug factions in Rio, the bandas delincuentes in Medellin’s comunas, Nigeria’s ethnic-militia and vigilante groups, the CVOs in the Philippines, and the maras in Honduras, children and youth members that were interviewed for this study said that their group gave them access to weapons including AK47s, M16s, M14s, hand grenades, and RPGs.7 As the photographs of some of the respondents for this study clearly demonstrate, many of the children and youths interviewed were armed when researchers met with them. Repression – In four of the countries involved in the study, increasing repression by state forces has had the unintended effect of making armed groups more organised, more involved in illicit and informal economies, more heavily armed and often more violent. In 1987 the Ecuadorian police formed the Anti-pandilla Special Unit (Grupo Especial Antipandilla - G.E.A.) in response to the increasing involvement of pandilleros in petty crime. This inadvertently led to the formation of the naciones in the early 1990s as, in reaction to increased pressure from the police, some pandilleros8 sought to fortify and organise themselves nationally. Since their establishment, naciones have become more involved in the drug trade than pandillas, and have developed a clearly defined hierarchical command structure that includes permanently armed units known as Oscuros and Guardaespaldas. In Honduras, extra-judicial killings of pandilleros by the police has resulted in a number of retaliatory attacks. Immediately after eighteen year old “Chuqui” (nickname) was allegedly beaten to death by policemen after being arrested in connection with the murder of two police officers, a fourteen year old girl’s head was found in the Puerto Cortes Park in Tegucigalpa, the country’s capital. Attached to the girl’s decapitated head was a note that read: The Barrio 18 does not want to talk with President Maduro, the murder of our friend ‘Chuqui, 18 S+’ will not be the end of this.”9 In some cases, rather than making them more organised, increased government repression has caused some groups to fragment when key figures are imprisoned. This has led 6

Dowdney 2003:30 Rocket propelled grenade 8 Member of a pandilla 9 No Halt to the Violence in Honduras, 06/11/03, www.coav.org.br. 7

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to more inter-group rivalries that, in turn, generate more violence on the street. This tendency will, however, depend on the level of communication between imprisoned group members and their associates outside of prison. If communication is good, leaders will often continue to control the group from behind bars. If communication is bad, gangs tend to fragment internally unless an accepted new leader is recognised by all members. For example, interviewed gang members from the Black Gangster Disciples in Chicago claimed that the imprisonment of gang leaders following federal prosecution has led to the emergence of renegade factions within the gang and a subsequent increase in violent inter-gang disputes. • In four of the countries covered by this study, groups define themselves ethnically or via clan allegiance. Institutionalised street gangs in the United States, the OPC and the Egbesu Boys in Nigeria, and the coloured street gangs of Cape Town are all defined by race or ethnicity. In Chicago, members of the gangs investigated are either of Hispanic or Black (African American) origin, and in other parts of America there are gangs of numerous racial or national affiliations including Asian, White, and Russian, for example. OPC members are of Yoruba origin and the Egbesu Boys are of Ijaw nationality. Ethnic, racial or national definition is an important factor in the identity and origin of many non-political armed groups around the world, and must factor into any understanding of their make-up and function. In the Philippines, many CVO’s are used as the private armies of pagalis, the collective term in Maguindanaon for “family, sub clan or clan.” • The violence in which armed groups participate is reflective of the environments in which they are born. Rather than existing independently from the societies in which they operate, all of the armed groups investigated for this study to some degree reflect the environments in which they were established. This is especially the case in their use of violence. For example, the OPC in Nigeria, established for the advancement of Yoruba10 interests, emerged after General Sani Abacha (Military Head of State) played on ethno-regional tensions and ignited ethnic disputes in the southwest of the country in a bid to continue in office.11 Thirty years of military dictatorship and the resulting militarisation of the country is also seen as a causal factor in the establishment of other armed groups, such as the Bakassi Boys and the Egbesu Boys. In Brazil, there is a similar relationship between state forces and drug factions, “Military policing tactics in favelas, police abuses and violent treatment of favela residents and traffickers, including executions, has undoubtedly helped to stimulate the militarisation of drug factions and their increased use of armed violence since the 1970s.”12 The history of civil war, authoritarian rule and high homicide rates since the 1960s in El Salvador may be seen as an important causal factor for the maras’ involvement in violent actions. 10

Ethnic group indigenous to the southwest of Nigeria. General Sani Abacha was the Military Head of State in Nigeria between 1993-1998. 12 Dowdney 2003:89 11

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COMMAND STRUCTURE Three types of organisational or command structure were present in the groups investigated. 1) Militarised hierarchy with a ranking system Armed groups investigated in six of the countries involved in this study had a command structure based on a militarised hierarchy with a ranking system for members. For example, although not all pandillas in El Salvador are highly organised, several have an absolute leader known as a jefe or palabrero, who may maintain contact with members of organised crime. Next down from the jefe is the leader of the zona that coordinates two or three neighbourhood level groupings known as clikas. In the Philippines, each CVO has a legally prescribed hierarchical structure, based on an executive officer, or chief tanod, a team leader, or handler, and 2-4 members in each barangay1 level unit. However, CVOs used as private armies tend to rally around the head of the pagali2 , usually the mayor, and have adopted a more militarily defined set of internal relationships in which young members do not question orders from above. 2) Formally organised or corporate structure Most institutionalised street gangs investigated in Chicago have a formally organised or corporate structure. The Black Gangster Disciples have adopted a corporate structure with a Board of Directors and Chairman of the Board, and the Almighty Latin Kings and Queens have a large, formal organisation with an elected Crown Council and defined vertical leadership roles. 3) Informal horizontal structure that may have decentralised local branches Armed groups investigated in two of the countries involved in this study have an informal horizontal structure that has decentralised local branches in some cases. Q. Do you have one branch, or you got branches all over the city? A. Okay, it’s branches, okay, we um, we from the North side, so we got branches on the Southside, mid-West, you know what I’m sayin’, we like all over. Satan’s Disciple, Chicago

The Manenberg Hard Livings have a flat leadership structure, with a semi-democratic form of decision-making based on weekly group meetings. Dominant members in many of the coloured gangs seem to command respect and gain honorific titles, such as “laksman” and “slagozi”, through individual force of character rather than in reference to any official ranking system. **** 1 2

village. Collective term for family, sub-clan or clan.

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Levels of organisation do not necessarily reflect the levels of violence in which groups are involved. However, a more structured chain of command tends to be present in groups that are more deeply involved in organised crime, or come into confrontations with state forces or other armed groups. Regardless of the type of organisational structure utilised, all groups investigated are organised at the local level. A further four are also organised at the city level, through the linking of numerous locally based clikas, branches, celulas, factions or units. Five groups also had organisational structures at the national level, and two at the international level. The internationally linked groups are the maras and pandillas in El Salvador and Honduras which have some links to leaders in Los Angeles. At least for the maras in El Salvador, however, there is no evidence to suggest that these links determine the character of local gangs within the country. The following two commonalities in organisational structure were also found in groups investigated: • All groups investigated have rules upheld by physical punishments, including death. Operational structures in all of the groups investigated are maintained by defined rules. In most groups, these tend to be known rather than written down and although they vary by group, they are usually related to internal discipline, working functionality and even group identity. In all cases failure to comply with group rules results in physical punishment. In Ecuadorian naciones punishments are numerically codified, “312” representing ten slaps in front of other group members. With the exception of less organised pandillas in Ecuador, death is the prescribed punishment for members that break specific rules. This tends to be providing the police or a rival group with information. The relationship between the subordination of minors to adults, and rules and punishments, are discussed in ‘The working functions of children and youth in organised armed violence’. Examples of summary executions and other physical punishments for the breaking of rules are also presented in this chapter. • Most armed groups had structural links to imprisoned leaders. Groups in eight of the ten countries involved in the study had strong links to inmates within the prison system. Prison was a common experience for most of the children and youth interviewed3 and seen as an occupational hazard by many. In seven of the countries involved in the study, group leaders were in prison and continued to exercise control while incarcerated. In both Rio de Janeiro and Medellin, imprisoned faction donos4 and leaders of the bandas, or jefes, continue to play an important regulatory role by mediating disputes between factions and bandas delincuentes respectively. The prison numbers gangs in South Africa have clearly influenced the coloured street gangs, much due to the fact that coloured gang members were often in prison. In El Salvador, authorities divide adult prisons and 3

With the exception of children and youths in ethnic-militia and vigilante groups in Nigeria, and CVOs in the Philippines. 4 leader.

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juvenile justice facilities5 so that members of the rival Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18 pandillas never come into contact with each other. Adult prisons and youth juvenile justice facilities6 are also divided between rival drug factions7 in Rio de Janeiro. This affects both juvenile and adult detainees as they are placed in a certain part of the prison depending on which community they come from, and which faction dominates that community, regardless of whether or not they are a member of a drug faction. Estimated Numbers Arriving at an exact figure for the total number of people actively participating in the investigated groups is extremely difficult. In each country covered by the study there is an abundance of varied estimates as to the size of maras, pandillas, street gangs, factions, militias and paramilitaries made by local police, government and civil society groups. Although nobody can be certain of the exact numbers, the estimates presented in Table 1.1 were made by local researchers based on estimates from the authorities, previous research studies and their working knowledge on-the-ground. What is clear is that although nobody knows precisely how many armed actors there are in the groups investigated, their numbers are in the tens of thousands in each and all of the countries investigated. If armed group members from all countries affected by organised armed violence were calculated, the total would run into the hundreds of thousands. The percentage of these actors that are under 18 years-old varies by group and country. It it is believed that around 50% of the estimated 10,000 armed drug faction members in Rio de Janeiro are minors.8 In El Salvador, of the 938 pandilleros interviewed in greater San Salvador during 2002 for the “Barrio Adentro: La solidaridad violenta de las pandillas” study,9 33.2% were 18 years or under. Ramirez estimates that as many as 60% to 70% of armed group members in Medellin are minors or youths.10 Hard quantitative data on the numbers of children and youths involved in the armed groups investigated is almost impossible to come by; in almost all cases researchers, journalists and the police can only estimate. However, the fact that all respondents from armed groups interviewed for this study joined their respective groups at an average age of 13.5 years,11 signifies that for most, par5

Known as “Centros de Reeducación” or “Centres for Re-education.” Known as “Educandários de Internação” or “Educational Establishments for the Interned”. 7 Dowdney 2003:237. Also see: Rocha, Carla and Angelica Nunes. “Rio manda menores infratores para outros estados.” O Globo. Apr. 15, 1998; 7 Porto, Bruno. “Como é possível recuperar sem educar?” O Globo. Jul. 1, 2003; Araújo, Vera. “Uma dura lição.” O Globo. Jul. 11, 2004; http://www.alerj.rj.gov.br/jornalalerj/ jornalalerj46.pdf – From Rio’s Legislative Assembly newsletter citing the separation by factions in penitentiaries as a priority – June 2004 – pg 1 and a mention on page 5. 8 Dowdney 2003:51 9 Santacruz, M.Concha-Eastman.A, 2001, Barrio Adentro: la solidaridad violenta de las pandillas., San Salvador, El Salvador: IOUDP, OPS, as cited by Carranza., Marlon, “Detention or death: where the ‘pandillero’ kids of El Salvador are heading” (2005), Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas / Instituto Universitario de Opinión Pública (IUOP), at www.coav.org.br. 10 See Ramirez., Ivan, “Medellin: The Invisible Children of the Social and Armed Conflict” (2005), Coalición Contra la Vinculación de Niños, Niñas y Jóvenes al Conflicto Armado en Colombia, at www.coav.org.br. 11 See ‘Process of involvement’ 6

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ticipating in armed groups is an adolescent or youth experience during the first years of membership. Youth wings Armed groups investigated in two of the countries involved in this study have declared child or youth divisions or wings. Most Chicago gangs have junior divisions, or “shorty” cliques. The Almighty Latin Kings and Queens have multiple youth branches, including Junior and Pee Wee Kings. The Black Gangster Disciples have a junior division for the 1216 year old age bracket that is run by a coordinator. It’s all about their coordinator, and they got age brackets, from 12-16, that’s the shorty count, and then you got from 16 to whatever and that’s the adult count. From the shorty count, the shorty count has a coordinator and they got an assistant coordinator, and they bring all their problems to their assistant coordinator, the assistant coordinator bring it to the coordinator. So, they address their problems like that. Black Gangster Disciple, Chicago

In Nigeria, the “Eso” are the militant youth wing of the OPC. The Eso are responsible for vigilante activities within OPC territory, ensuring discipline at meetings and public events, and have been involved in violent clashes with other ethnic-militia.

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RELATIONS WITH THE COMMUNITY All armed groups investigated for this study were territorial. Groups base their territory on frontiers defined by neighbourhood, clan, or ethnic lines.1 Armed groups’ dominance of the populations and territories in which they operate vary greatly. However, for the groups investigated, the levels of dominance of both population and territory can be put into one of two categories. Although there are varying levels of dominion over both people and defined areas, what is clear is that the groups which use openly armed members to patrol their territories, exercise more control over the local population and territory than those that do not. Furthermore, those groups that are openly armed tend to have similar types of relationships with the communities in which they operate. Those that are not openly armed also appear to have similar types of relationships with the communities in which they operate. CATEGORY ONE: Groups without openly armed members or armed patrols in the community In six out of the ten countries, group members did not carry firearms openly within the community. All of these groups, however, did use weapons openly within their communities when in confrontation with rival groups, the police or state forces. Furthermore, although groups in this category were not openly armed, interviewed local residents were aware that there was an armed presence in their community. Fieldwork carried out during this study revealed that within communities in which guns are not carried openly by the members of local armed groups, there are a number of commonalities. For example: • Although reporting fear of the group, non-involved community residents are generally able to move freely between rival group territories. • If non-involved people stay away from armed group members they are usually left alone. For example, Cruz notes in his study, “Maras y Pandillas en Centroamerica Vol II. Pandillas y Capital Social”2 , that 80% of the people surveyed in three municipalities within the metropolitan area of San Salvador reported having no problems with the pandillas that are a strong presence within their areas. Interviewed community residents, however, did report being afraid of the armed groups from this category that dominate their areas. In Ecuador, local residents claimed to have been threatened by local pandilleros for knowing details of the pandillas’ criminal activities. 1

In the case of Nigeria, ethnic lines may involve geographical connotations as some ethnic groups make ownership claims to given territories. For example, the OPC were established as a result of the Yoruba’s desire for autonomy from the state. 2 Cruz, J.M. (2001). “Pandillas y capital social”. Estudios Centroamericanos (ECA) 637-638, 1099-1118. In Press, as cited by Carranza., Marlon, “Detention or death: where the ‘pandillero’ kids of El Salvador are heading” (2005), Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas / Instituto Universitario de Opinión Pública (IUOP), at www.coav.org.br.

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• Groups in this category generally do not steal from within their own communities; however, they are also unlikely to protect non-involved community members from other criminals. For example, in a 1,300 household victim survey conducted by the Institute for Security Studies in Manenberg3 , one of the most notorious gang areas in the Cape Flats, 89% of respondents said that gang members in their areas did not protect non-gang members from street robberies and other crimes. • Groups in this category tend to be less controlling of the communities in which they operate than those in category two. For example, although leaders of groups in this category may have relationships with community leaders and even financially invest in social projects for the community, such as the Black P. Stone Nation or the Conservative Vice Lord Nation in the 1960s, they tend not to be responsible for the upkeep of social order or instituting punitive actions against the local population for failing to follow established rules. • Although often a less than regular presence, state police forces are able to patrol areas within which groups from this category operate. During interviews conducted for this study in El Salvador, pandilleros commented that they would evade a direct confrontation with the police wherever possible, including within areas that they considered to be their territory. CATEGORY TWO: Groups with openly armed members and armed patrols within the community. Members of groups in four of the countries involved in this study carry firearms openly whilst patrolling the communities in which they operate. Fieldwork carried out during this study revealed that within communities in which guns are carried openly by the members of local armed groups, there are a number of commonalities. For example: • There tends to be a very limited presence of state security forces in these areas, or groups are themselves in association with local government forces. For example, as drug factions are a heavily and openly armed presence in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, state security forces tend to enter these communities only for large scale operations, referred to by the police as ‘invasions’, in order to ‘occupy’4 the community with an equal or more heavily armed force.5 In Nigeria, the Bakassi Boys are an openly armed presence in the communities that they patrol but rather than being in opposition to state forces, they have been funded by and work with local government in the three states in which 3

See Leggett, Ted., “Terugskiet (returning fire): Growing up on the street corners of Manenberg, South Africa”, (2005), Institute for Security Studies, at www.coav.org.br 4 Dowdney 2003:78-89 5 In April, 2004, the favela of Rocinha in Rio de Janeiro was occupied by 1300 policemen following an internal dispute in the local drug faction that caused intense armed confrontations and the death of 12 people. See ‘Policia mata líder do trafico na favela da Rocinha’, 14/04/04, www.diarioweb.com.br and ‘Apos confrontos, policia permanece na Rocinha’, 13/04/04, www.folhaonline.com.br

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they operate. In the Philippines, armed child members of CVOs have been reportedly manning checkpoints to collect toll money from passing vehicles. • Due to a diminished presence of state forces in the areas in which they operate, groups in this category tend to have a monopoly on the provision of security in the community, and consequently judge disputes between non-involved community members. Maintaining order in dominated territories may result in armed groups punitively judging of non-involved members, including imposing death sentences for perceived ‘wrongdoing’. Two members of the CVOs in the Philippines interviewed for this study reported witnessing the torture and murder by other CVO members of three teenagers suspected of killing a member of the local pagali. On April 10, 2000, in Onitsha, Nigeria, at least nine

Photograph 1.2 – Torture of an OPC member, Nigeria / Okoro Kelechi 2004

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people, including two boys aged thirteen and fifteen years old, were reportedly accused of being armed robbers and summarily executed by the Bakassi Boys.6 The following photographs were taken during a police raid on an OPC camp in Mishin, Lagos. According to statements given to the police by arrested OPC members, the man was being tortured for stealing within the neighbourhood; a violation of the group’s rules. In many of the communities where groups from this category operate, local residents reported a lack of trust in the police. This serves to legitimise the role of armed groups in the provision of ‘justice’. Residents of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas also commented that drug factions have a monopoly on the ownership of arms within the community, or are at least aware of which local individuals are armed and why. Ownership of a gun in a favela may result in having to carry out armed services for the drug faction, such as defending the community during a rival faction invasion, or having to lend the weapon to drug traffickers on request. • Groups in this category often restrict the movement of non-involved local residents. For example, interviewed members of communities in which drug factions (Rio de Janeiro), bandas delincuentes (Medellin) and area gangs (Kingston) operate, reported being unable to enter areas controlled by groups in opposition to those that dominated their communities. Fifty out of one hundred under eighteen year-olds from ten favelas in Rio de Janeiro who were not involved in their local drug faction, said they felt unable to enter other favelas due to the presence of drug factions rival to the faction dominant in their community.7 In Medellin, researchers reported that entire families have been expelled from some comunas by bandas delincuentes who wanted their houses. Similarly, in Vigario Geral, a favela in Rio de Janeiro, during October, 2004, over 100 residents were forced to leave the community following the invasion and subsequent occupation of the community by a drug faction based in the rival community of Parada de Lucas. The majority of those who left the favela were relatives of drug traffickers aligned to the Comando Vermelho that had been expelled by the invading force from Parada de Lucas, aligned to the Terceiro Comando. Police were unable to restore sufficient order for those expelled to return to their homes; however, they did provide an armed escort for residents wishing to return briefly to collect their belongings.8 • In areas where groups from this category operate, there is often a lack or interruption of public services due to the armed group’s ostensible presence. Teachers interviewed in schools situated in areas dominated by bandas delincuentes subordinate to paramilitary groups in Medellin, reported that due to the difficulty in moving freely outside of their community, children had less access to local government schools and healthcare facilities. In Rio de Janeiro during 2001, O Dia newspaper reported that 4,500 students were kept out of classes when 10 schools closed due to armed 6

See Ibrahim., Mohammed, “An Empirical Survey of Children and Youth in Organised Armed Violence in Nigeria: Egbesu Boys, OPC and Bakassi Boys as a Case Study” (2005), Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), at www.coav.org.br. 7 Dowdney 2003:178 8 See ‘Guerra do trafico em Vigário Geral deixa dois mortos – ‘Exilados’ continuam em creche’, 07/10/04, Extra.

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confrontations between the Comando Vermelho and the Terceiro Comando in Santa Cruz.9 Local commerce also reportedly closed during these confrontations.10 • In addition to maintaining ‘order’ and providing ‘justice’ through fear and repression within the communities in which they operate, groups in this category often support community social projects in order to maintain community support. Interestingly, this tactic was also present in some of the groups from category one. For example, area dons are known for supporting community projects. In one neighbourhood in Kingston visited by a researcher from this study, the community, with the support of the area don, had built a small park with an aquarium and a small screen for projecting movies. Interviewed community members from Manenberg in Cape Town reported that local gang members would lend them money or bread in times of need, and some even financially supported youth sports teams. **** The one exception to the above two categories was that of Jamaica, where area gangs and corner gangs are generally only openly armed during times of confrontation with rival groups, yet they were reportedly responsible for local ‘justice’ for all community residents. One interviewee reported that if the guilty party in a robbery or rape is judged to be from within the community, local gangs would decide on a punishment and be responsible for carrying it out. Another youth from the Kingston neighbourhood of August Town said punishment could include beatings and torture by electric shock. Furthermore, people interviewed from garrison communities claimed they were unable to safely enter a rival garrison community for fear of attack. Interviewees also stated that during political or turf conflict, the community as a whole becomes involved in the violence, either as perpetrators or victims. There was a general feeling amongst many interviewees that relationships between groups and their communities had worsened over time. In some cases, a gang’s involvement in the illicit drug trade and the use of drugs by members was blamed for this. It is different now. They don’t respect you […] the drugs have changed that. The drugs have changed their attitude. elder community member, Manenberg, Cape Town

In Nigeria, the Bakassi Boys had originally been welcomed by the local population, heralded as the saviours from the ever growing crime wave. However, this soon turned to fear as the Bakassi Boys have become increasingly involved in extra-judicial killings. No one dare challenge Bakassi, no one talks about their activities in this town […] In about March last year [2002], I saw two dead bodies on the road to Aba, their bodies were charred beyond recognition, with tyres that had been burnt around them and a lot of Bakassi Boys parading in the area. community resident, Aba, Nigeria 9 ‘Guerra do Trafico deixa mais de 4.5 mil alunos sem aula e comercio fechado em zona oeste. PM interdita três ruas’, 02/10/01, O Dia. 10 Dowdney 2003:110

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ROLE OF THE STATE In all countries in which armed groups were investigated, the state has either a direct or an indirect role in the groups’ activities. Indirect involvement is understood here as the corruption of some state representatives, such as policemen or low level government officials. Direct involvement is considered to be the state working directly with an armed group, or directly supporting its activities. • States in seven of the countries in which groups were being investigated had an indirect role in the activities of those groups. Researchers in seven of the countries reported the involvement of state officials, primarily members of the police force or low level government officials, in corruption directly related to local armed groups. This included: selling guns to group members; taking bribes from group members for information; extortion of group members caught carrying out illegal activities; and selling confiscated drugs back to group members. Selling guns – The involvement of police officers in the sale of firearms to group members was reported in three of the countries. Jefes and lower ranked members of the bandas delincuentes in Medellin reported during interviews that police sold them black market and decommissioned firearms. Although filmed prior to the implementation of democracy, in the BBC documentary about his life, ‘Cape Fear’, one of Manenberg’s most notorious gangsters and head of the Hard Living Kids, Rashied Staggie, bragged that the police were the source of his firearms. Members of the Military Police from a number of different battalions in Rio de Janeiro were caught negotiating the sale of arms confiscated from drug traffickers to members of a rival drug faction in November, 2004.1 In the 1980s, politicians in Jamaica were responsible for the arming of their supporters and the area gangs within their garrison communities.2 Bribery – Group members paying bribes to police officers was reported in five countries. In focus groups with community residents in Manenberg, respondents said they could name police officers that would tip-off local gangsters before a police raid took place. The same residents also said they would not report a crime involving a local gang member to the police, as they felt that corrupt policemen would be likely to tell the gang member in question who had reported the crime. Both Black and Hispanic gang members interviewed for this study discussed with researchers (off microphone) making payments to police and aldermen3 for protection. One ALKQN gang leader told researchers that local alderman and congressmen “…come to the Latin Kings when they need this little area to voter from. We help out in exchange for jobs.” 1

See ‘Quadrilha Fardada – Alo, practica-se todo tipo de crime: grampos telefônicos trazem a tona roubos assassinatos e extorsão comandados por PMs de diversos batalhões’, 27/10/04, Extra. 2 Horace, L, 1996, They Cry ‘Respect’!: Urban Violence and Poverty in Jamaica, Kingston, University of the West Indies. 3 Local government official

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Extortion – The extortion by the police of group members caught carrying out illegal activities was reported by researchers in three countries. In Ecuador, interviewed members of the naciones reported having to pay more to corrupt police officers for their liberty when arrested for drug dealing than when arrested for robbery. In addition to extortion, the following quote from a pandillero in El Salvador also refers to policemen using and selling confiscated drugs back into the illicit market via the pandillas. I have also seen them [the police] smoking drugs, I have seen them asking for money in exchange for letting someone go...there was a policeman, I don’t know his name, he would sell drugs that he seized elsewhere, sometimes at half price, pandillero, Barrio 18, El Salvador

Drugs – The selling of confiscated drugs back to group members by police officers was reported in three countries. In Manenberg, interviewed community residents reported seeing local policemen selling drugs to known gang members. Gang members in Chicago also reported police involvement in the illicit drug market. There are so many cops that are still gang banging. They don’t necessarily hang out on the corner, but they still help their people out. [Like they] take drugs in a stop [arrest] and take the drugs to their guys… Black Gangster Disciple

• States in three of the countries in which groups were being investigated had a direct role in the activities of those groups. Working together – The 1987 constitution in the Philippines mandates for the dismantling of “private armies and other groups not duly recognized by the authorities.”4 As a result, Datu,5 subchiefs and influential members of the pagali, turned their private armies and bodyguards into Civilian Volunteer Organisations (CVOs), legally defined self-help and protection groups designed by government to deal with growing insurgency in the countryside during the 1980s. The Philippine government has been unclear in its position on the arming of CVOs: although CVOs are legally required to engage primarily in unarmed civilian assistance, they are also legally allowed to receive weapons training by the PNP6. In addition to the government tolerating the existence of permanently and openly armed CVOs, researchers received reports of CVOs accompanying military troops in operations against armed insurgent groups, such as the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front), and receiving weapons training and weapons from the military. One youth CVO member interviewed for this study was killed shortly after being 4

See Camacho., Agnes Z.V. & Puzon, Marco P. & Ortiga, Yasmin P., “Children and Youth in Organised Armed Violence in the Philippines: Contextualisation, Personal Histories and Policy Options” (2005), Psychosocial Trauma and Human Rights Program Centre for Integrative and Development Studies University of the Philippines, at www.coav.org.br. 5 A traditional leader in the Philippines, the datu, who came to be regarded under Islam as God’s vice-regent and exercised virtually autonomous control of his territory, ascended to office through hereditary links or clear descent from aristocratic families, and through the judicious and decisive use of personal skills and attributes. 6 Philippine National Police.

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interviewed while his CVO, alongside government troops and CAFGU,7 was involved in an intense firefight with the MILF. Direct support – Although banned by federal government in Nigeria, a local government official in Lagos confirmed that the local government maintains a close relation with the OPC. The interviewee told researchers that local government authorities in Lagos state use OPC boys to help collect local taxes. He explained that between 10% and 20% of local taxes collected by the boys go to the local council, while the rest goes directly to the OPC. The Bakassi Boys have also received support from local state governments in all three states where they currently operate (Abia, Anambra, and Imo). When asked about their relationship with the state governor, the chairman of the Abia State Vigilante Services,8 Onwuchekwa Ulu, said, …just like a father and son business […] we have a very good relationship with the governor. […] We always obey him because he who pays the piper dictates the tune. He pays us and we always try to obey him.9

Jamaican community gangs have their origins in community advancement through mutually beneficial relations with politicians. From the late 1960s through to the 1980s, area dons - that control area gangs - and politicians were mutually dependent on one another; area dons would deliver votes from their ‘garrison’10 communities in exchange for patronage, such as public housing or public works programmes. In recent years political parties have made efforts to move away from links to area dons. In their October, 2002, manifesto, ‘Advancing the Quality of Society’, the People’s National Party committed itself to “be the architects of a new kind of governance that challenges the order.” However, as noted by Harriott, “…the fact that politicians have failed to take action against the perpetrators of electoral abuse within their own constituencies and, in some cases, relying on such perpetrators, means they are compromised even if they are not directly involved in criminal activity.”11 Researchers for this study were also told by local residents in August Town that as recently as 2002, there were ten politically motivated murders in the community, a further suggestion that traditional links between politicians and community based armed groups do continue.

7

The Citizen Armed Forces Geogrphical Unit (CAFGU) are armed civilian units trained to help government troops in maintaining peace and order in various locations in the Philippines. They are given military training and financial compensation by the Armed Forces of the Philippines. 8 Part of the Bakassi Boys. 9 Interview with Orji Kalu, governor of Abia state, in Insider Weekly, July 16, 2001, as cited in Ibrahim., Mohammed, “An Empirical Survey of Children and Youth in Organised Armed Violence in Nigeria: Egbesu Boys, OPC and Bakassi Boys as a Case Study” (2005), Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), at www.coav.org.br. 10 Neighbourhoods with a strong allegiance to a political party. 11 Harriot, A, 2003, Understanding Crime in Jamaica: New Challenges for Public Policy, Kingston, University of the West Indies Press.

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ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES Participation in informal and illicit economies is a defining factor of all armed groups investigated by this study. The notion of territory as a base for economic gain was also shared by all groups investigated. Thus, in addition to the symbolic importance of territory for self-definition, and the practical and social importance of territory for protection and population control, territories are also economically important as defensible spaces where money can be made. As noted in ‘Historical perspectives’, involvement in illicit economic activities such as drug dealing has led to a number of armed groups becoming increasingly territorial and more violent in the defence or expansion of their territory. As noted in ‘Areas of study profile’, all groups investigated originated and continue to function in poor, or relatively poor, areas. In many cases, armed groups offer local, poorly educated and socio-economically marginalised children and youths their first or only chance to enter the (albeit illicit) work market. The following findings were made when comparing the involvement in illicit economies of the armed groups investigated: • The most common form of economic gain for groups involved in this study was crime, in which armed groups from all countries involved in this study participate to some degree. Crimes reported by researchers include primarily: armed robberies; robberies; car theft; and kidnapping. The type of involvement in criminal activity varied by group, some being involved in what could be considered organised crime, such as the involvement of the bandas delincuentes (Medellin), the CVOs (Philippines) or the Egbesu Boys (Nigeria) in kidnappings. In such cases the defensible territories of these groups are an important logistical component for a successful kidnapping. Interviewed members of the Eso told researchers that when joining the OPC they took an oath which includes a commitment not to take part in criminal activities. In December 2002, however, the police carried out arrests of OPC members of the Gani Adams faction in Ondo state, southwest Nigeria, on criminal charges including attempted murder, unlawful possession of weapons, and belonging to an unlawful society.1 Members of the CVOs working as private armies in Maguindanao reported shooting live ammunition in the air in order to simulate a gun battle, so that the CVO could steal rice and possessions once local residents had fled. The naciones in Ecuador and the maras in Honduras and El Salvador are involved in street crimes, such as armed robberies, muggings and theft. Interestingly, as with their involvement in the drug trade, the more serious crimes in which these groups are 1

See Ibrahim., Mohammed, “An Empirical Survey of Children and Youth in Organised Armed Violence in Nigeria: Egbesu Boys, OPC and Bakassi Boys as a Case Study” (2005), Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), at www.coav.org.br.

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involved in tend to be for, or in conjunction with, organised crime groups. For example, in Ecuador, interviewed child and youth members of the naciones said that stolen cars would be delivered to las bandas in order to be sold in neighbouring countries, or broken down and sold in parts locally. In South Africa, many coloured gangs logistically support crimes carried out by younger gang members outside of gang territory. Gangs supply transport, arms and a well-developed fencing network for junior members involved in planned robberies or thefts. A similar practice is carried out in Rio de Janeiro where, for a cut of the proceeds, drug traffickers lend guns to adolescents and young people in the community who wish to carry armed robberies elsewhere in the city. • The second most common form of economic gain for groups involved in this study was drug dealing, in which armed groups from nine countries involved in this study participate.

Drug dealing has become one of the leading sources of employment of Black and Hispanic youth in US cities.2 With increasing unemployment in Chicago post 1970 due to a decline in industrial jobs, many street gangs turned to drug sales to provide much-needed income for gang members. For example, the sale of illicit drugs is the Conservative Vice Lord Nation’s prime economic activity. Illegal drugs, such as Mandrax3 and crack cocaine, have also been the primary commodities traded by gang members in Cape Town’s coloured gangs since the 1980s. Defensible spaces are important for groups to maintain and defend drug sale operations. The Black Gangster Disciples reportedly controlled the drug trade in 26 of the 28 tower blocks in the Robert Taylor Homes project in Chicago. Selling drugs in and around the buildings, gang members retreat into them during police raids and shoot at gang rivals from within during territorial disputes. Similarly, in Rio de Janeiro, drug factions use entire favela communities as logistical bases for drug sales, as most have few roads, a network of winding alleyways and limited points of entrance, serving as good defensible spaces from rivals and the police.4 Not all of the groups investigated are uniformly involved in drug sales, some local branches participating more than others. This may be due to varying links to organised crime within the group. For example, the level of involvement of the pandillas in El Salvador in organised drug trafficking is variable. Although interviews with pandilleros there clearly demonstrate their involvement in street sales of illicit drugs, involvement in the drug trade is not a uniform activity for all pandillas. Those pandillas involved in more organised drug dealing tend to be connected to organised crime groups, such as the banderos: highly dangerous 2

Venkatesh, Sudir Alladi, and Steven D.Leavitt, 2000, ‘“Are we a family or a business?” History and disjuncture in the urban American street gang,” Theory and Society 29:427-462. Hagedorn, John M. 2001 “Gangs and the Informal Economy.” Pp. 101-120 in Gangs in America, edited my Ron Huff. Sage, as cited by Hagedorn., John M, “Institutionalised Gangs and Violence in Chicago” (2005), University of Illinois-Chicago, Great Cities Institute, at www.coav.org.br. 3 Street version of a discontinued pharmaceutical sedative of the same name. 4 Dowdney 2003:73

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and adult groupings involved in drug trafficking, organised car theft, kidnappings and money laundering. In Ecuador, those naciones involved in drug dealing also tend to be connected to organised crime groups, known there as the bandas. During interview members of the naciones claimed that bandas made drugs (primarily cocaine and marijuana) available on credit to leaders of the naciones, in order to facilitate their initial involvement in distribution. In the Philippines interviewed youth members of the CVOs used as private armies talked about their involvement in malalaking lakad, the term used to refer to the mayor’s illegal activities and one of the pagali’s main sources of wealth.5 Malalaking lakad may include any illegal activity from kidnapping to extortion, instigating population displacement, murder, torture and drug trafficking. One interviewee talked of a marijuana plantation owned by the head of the pagali which his CVO served. • Armed groups investigated in two of the countries involved in the study reportedly make illicit gains through extorting protection money from community residents. According to an interviewed resident in Lagos, households in the area are expected to pay around N500 per month6 for security services from OPC members. Bus drivers in Lagos also claimed to researchers that area boys7 collected taxes from them on behalf of the OPC. The chairman of the Abia State Vigilante Services, Onwuchekwa Ulu, has also made claims that his Bakassi Boys are in part funded by taxes levied from the local public.8 In Colombia, researchers also received reports of urban based paramilitary groups and bandas delincuentes taxing residents of Medellin’s comunas for community protection services. • Armed groups investigated in two of the countries involved in the study reportedly control legal business ventures or commerce. Researchers received reports from interviewees that paramilitary groups and bandas delincuentes in Medellin control transport services and some commerce in the comunas which they dominate. Hard Living boss Rashied Staggie, according to local residents in Manenberg, has also bought into the legitimate security industry. • Armed groups investigated in five of the countries involved in the study pay their members fixed salaries, primarily for armed services. All armed groups investigated are a potential source of income for their members. This may be indirectly through logistical support for criminal activities such as armed 5

As discussed Camacho, a number of Mayors in Maguindanao have turned their private armies into CVOs. See Camacho., Agnes Z.V. & Puzon, Marco P. & Ortiga, Yasmin P., “Children and Youth in Organised Armed Violence in the Philippines: Contextualisation, Personal Histories and Policy Options” (2005), Psychosocial Trauma and Human Rights Program Centre for Integrative and Development Studies University of the Philippines, at www.coav.org.br. 6 About US$ 0.4 7 Groups of teenagers often made up of street children. 8 “Nobody can bribe the Bakassi Boys”, Post Express on Sunday, 29 September, 2001, as cited in Ibrahim., Mohammed, “An Empirical Survey of Children and Youth in Organised Armed Violence in Nigeria: Egbesu Boys, OPC and Bakassi Boys as a Case Study” (2005), Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), at www.coav.org.br.

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robberies, or directly through one off payments for specific jobs, commission-based salaries usually from drug dealing, or fixed salaries for specific services. Armed groups that pay fixed salaries do so primarily for the fulfilment of armed functions. Interviews with drug faction members in Rio de Janeiro9 and members of the bandas delincuentes in Medellin demonstrate that those members responsible for the armed protection of territory, via an openly armed presence and patrols, are generally paid fixed salaries. Armed gang ‘soldiers’ from the coloured gangs of Cape Town that are utilised during times of gang ‘war’ are referred to as laksman, or hit men, and paid a fixed salary of R100010 per month for their services. The Bakassi Boys are paid a fixed wage for armed patrols and vigilante activities, as are the Eso of the OPC. Some of the investigated groups do not make financial gains as one functional unit; consequently they do not pay fixed salaries. Instead they offer members the necessary logistical support to carry out crimes or drug dealing, and in return members may be expected to pay a monthly fee to the group’s leader. This is the case with many of the naciones, maras and pandillas, whose members become individually involved in criminal activities via the group, almost as though part of a criminal cooperative. In Ecuador, for example, interviewed members of the naciones reported having to pay their group between US$5 and U$20 per month in fees, or cuotas. Money gained from paid fees may be used to buy firearms and other necessities of the group, or kept by someone higher up the chain of command. In El Salvador, for example, interviewees claimed that the palabrero11 exploits his younger and lower ranked members for personal gain by keeping a fair proportion of monies earned for himself. Although paid a fixed sum in times of gang ‘warfare’, members of the coloured gangs in Manenberg also reported having to pay protection money to their own gangs if they got a legitimate job. This was important so that gang protection wasn’t removed, leaving the member open to a revenge killing by another gang. **** As noted in ‘Historical perspectives’, armed groups in eight of the countries involved in this study do not have criminal origins. However, since their involvement in crime, including drug trafficking, their development into money-making entities has greatly increased their potential to be armed and financially self-sufficient. Furthermore, being able to offer poor and disenfranchised adolescents and youth access to money and consumer goods makes these and other armed groups ever more attractive to potential recruits.

9

Dowdney 2003:48. About US$165. 11 Head position in a clika, the neighbourhood branch of a pandilla. 10

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ARMED VIOLENCE This chapter presents the main types of armed confrontations and violence in which the groups investigated participate. Estimates of the levels of armed violence in which the groups are involved, based on public health statistics relating to mortality and other indicators, are discussed in Part III. Armed groups participate in violent conflicts for diverse reasons. However, the main types of armed violence in which these groups participate in are presented below. • Territorial disputes: armed groups in eight of the countries involved in this study participate in armed confrontations with rival groups over territory. All armed groups investigated for this study may be considered territorial. The importance of territory may be symbolic (related to self-definition, e.g. ethnic), practical (related to protection and security), social / political (related to population control) or economic (related to controlling locally based illicit markets or resources). The majority of territorial disputes between armed groups that were reported to researchers during this study were for either economic or symbolic reasons. The most common economic reason for territorial disputes is competition between groups for the control of drug dealing. As discussed in ‘Economic Activities’, the domination of defendable spaces for the control of drug sales is common to groups in nine of the ten countries covered by the study. The symbolism of territory is also a clear factor in territorial disputes between the groups investigated for this study. In El Salvador, clikas1 define themselves territorially, as they are local level units made up of members from a distinct neighbourhood. Armed confrontations, therefore, may occur as the result of a rival pandillas infringement of delineated boundaries rather than for strictly economic reasons related to territorial control, such as drug dealing. This was also the case in Ecuador, where celulas2 within the naciones consist of youths from a particular neighbourhood. In Medellin, disputes for territorial control of the comunas by various armed actors over the last fifteen years have been for political, practical and economic reasons. In 1993 with the death of Pablo Escobar, bandas delincuentes involved in drug trafficking that had previously been under his control began to re-establish themselves independently, leading to fierce territorial disputes for control of barrios3 and comunas between 1995 and 2000. Since 2000, paramilitary groups have made advances on these areas in a drive to expel militias and guerrillas linked to the FARC,4 the ELN5 and others. As a result, territorially defined bandas delincuentes have either become subordinate to the control of paramilitary groups, or if particularly strong, in partnership or confrontation with them. 1

Neighbourhood branches of a pandilla. Neighbourhood branches of a nacion. 3 Poor neighbourhoods. 4 Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia / Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. 5 Ejército de Liberación Nacional de Colombia / National Liberation Army of Colombia. 2

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Photograph 1.3 Members of the OPC, Nigeria / Okoro Kelechi 2004 OPC members display their banner, membership certificates, the group’s ‘Code of Conduct’ and their weapons.

• Rivalry: armed groups in seven of the countries involved in this study participate in armed violence due to rivalry with opposing groups. Rivalry was a motive expressed by group members interviewed as not being economic or territorial (although the underlying reasons for rivalry may lie in such motives), but instead related to the self-definition, ideals, ethnicity, clan-alliances or principles of the group being in opposition with those of other groups. For example, although interviews with Black gang members in Chicago demonstrate that gang conflict between Black gangs is primarily based on territorial control of the drug trade, Latino gang members interviewed saw defence of their ‘colours’6 and 6

‘Colors’ refers to the colour associated with a particular gang dress code, such as red for the Bloods or blue for the Crips, two rival gangs that originated in Los Angeles. ‘Colors’ has come to be a generic term more related to self-definition of the group, in the same way a patriot may talk of defending his nation’s flag.

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retaliation as the principal reason for violent gang disputes. Interestingly, in South Africa there exists the same split between the Americans and the Hard Livings: the former seeing the drug trade as the main reason for armed confrontations with other groups, and the latter claiming that armed violence with rival gang members would principally arise due to incidents relating to offended honour, women or retaliation for the robbery of a fellow gang member. In El Salvador, during interviews carried out with 938 pandilleros in San Salvador for the ‘Barrio Adentro’ study7, the majority of respondents (39.7%) cited ‘rivalry’ as the primary reason for disputes with other pandillas. ‘Rivalry’ was seen by those interviewed as different from ‘defence of territory’ (21.4%), ‘self-defence’ (10.7%) or revenge (6.8%). In the Philippines, ‘blood feuds’ between opposing pagali is referred to as lido. Although lido may occur for a number of reasons, it is based in rivalry between competing pagali and may continue over generations. As CVOs are used by pagali leaders as private armies, CVO members often become involved in lido. • Vigilantism and summary executions: armed groups in five of the countries involved in this study participate in violence due to vigilantism and/or to carry out summary executions. Residents of Aba interviewed for this study reported summary executions of suspected criminals carried out by the Bakassi Boys. One man that had been detained by the Bakassi Boys as a suspected criminal reported the following. While I was detained they brought a youth out and killed him in front of me, he was between seventeen and twenty years old. They killed him with a machete and a big stick. As noted in ‘Relations with the community’, CVOs interviewed for this study reported the torture and killing by other CVO members of three teenagers suspected of being responsible for the death of a pagali member. In Rio, drug traffickers are also responsible for carrying out physical punishments (such as beatings, enforced expulsion from the community or the shaving of women’s heads)8 and summary executions of those considered guilty of ‘crimes.’ Q: Have you ever killed anyone? A: Yes. Q: In which circumstance? A: Ah, he did something he shouldn’t have done in the favela. [...] He robbed a hardware store in the favela. He took a risk and I was passing by at the time. [...] There was another amigo9 near by, so I called him over and we took him... Soldado,10 16 years old 7

Santacruz, M.Concha-Eastman.A, 2001, Barrio Adentro: la solidaridad violenta de las pandillas., San Salvador, El Salvador: IOUDP, OPS, as cited by Carranza., Marlon, “Detention or death: where the ‘pandillero’ kids of El Salvador are heading” (2005), Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas / Instituto Universitario de Opinión Pública (IUOP), at www.coav.org.br. 8 Dowdney 2003:66 9 Slang for fellow drug faction member. 10 Soldier - used as a term by Rio de Janeiro’s drug factions to refer to armed workers that are responsible for the security within the favela.

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• Against state forces: armed groups in four of the countries involved in this study participate in armed confrontations with state forces. The present democratic government in Nigeria has continued to militarise the Niger Delta area by sending anti-riot police, soldiers and navy personnel to the area. As a result armed youth from the Egbesu Boys are in continual confrontation with state forces. In response to such state actions, armed youth kidnapped and eventually killed 12 police officers in Odi, Bayelsa state in November of 1999.11 The government responded to the killing by invading Odi with armed military personnel, which led to the killing of hundreds of people including women, children and security officers.12 Researchers also uncovered reports during this study of clashes between government troops and CVOs in the Philippines. Members of the Philippine Army’s 601st Brigade reportedly clashed with a group of CVOs in Lumabao, Maguindanao. The MILF Lawaran website reported that “The soldiers were pursuing a kidnap-for-ransom group when they encountered the CVOs, which ironically are a civilian component of the Philippine Army. The brief armed clash resulted in the capture of an M-14 rifle and several arms belonging to the fleeing CVOs.”13 As demonstrated by the following press article, Rio de Janeiro’s drug factions are also regularly in armed confrontations with the Military Police. War between drug traffickers leaves seven dead in Rio14 Armed confrontations between drug traffickers have left seven dead in the favela of Rocinha since last Friday. Another 200 police officers were sent to the location this morning. […] Two traffickers that were shot during the confrontation last night died today. […] Lieutenant Marcelo Rolim and soldier Luiz Cladio Gomes Ramos were also killed in the confrontation last night. […] Another two of the victims were community residents. A school bus monitor, Fabiana Santos Oliveira, 24 years-old, and a professional skateboarder, Welington da Silva, 27 years-old, were both killed by stray bullets.

Armed confrontations between pandillas and naciones and the police in El Salvador, Honduras and Ecuador respectively, was not, however, reported as a regular or even common occurrence by researchers participating in this study.

11

Okonta, I., 2000, “The Lingering Crisis in Nigeria’s Niger Delta and Suggestions for a Peaceful Resolution” Working paper for the Centre for Democracy and Development CDD, No 1, as cited by Ibrahim., Mohammed, “An Empirical Survey of Children and Youth in Organised Armed Violence in Nigeria: Egbesu Boys, OPC and Bakassi Boys as a Case Study” (2005), Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), at www.coav.org.br. 12 Amnesty International (2000) “Nigeria: Fear of Human Rights Violations as Troops Pour into the Niger Delta” Annual Report: Nigeria, Library-News Service 220/99 AI Index:AFR/99 http://web.amnesty.org/library/print/ENGAFR440041999, as cited by Ibrahim (2005) 13 See Camacho., Agnes Z.V. & Puzon, Marco P. & Ortiga, Yasmin P., “Children and Youth in Organised Armed Violence in the Philippines: Contextualisation, Personal Histories and Policy Options” (2005), Psychosocial Trauma and Human Rights Program Centre for Integrative and Development Studies University of the Philippines, at www.coav.org.br. 14 Guerra de traficantes deixa sete mortos no Rio, 10/04/04, www.diarioweb.com.br

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• Internal disputes: armed groups in four of the countries involved in this study were reported to participate in armed violence due to internal disputes. For example, all interviewed gang members in Chicago commented on an internal crisis of control within their gang due to the emergence of renegade factions, which resulted in violent internal disputes. One interviewed gangster saw the emergence of renegade gangs as resulting from the effectiveness of the police in arresting gang leaders. See, that’s another thing that I want to tell you about. They think that they’re so smart, taking all the cheese [gang leaders] off of the street, they just fucked up. You left a group with young wild peoples out here […] you left us out here with nobody to tell you [what to do]. Because, back in the day, ask anyone, GDs15 had structure […] Now, you got outlaws. Everybody their own, you got all types of gangsters out there. It’s a bunch of outlaws, because there ain’t no order.

• Ethnic or clan disputes: armed groups in two of the countries involved in this study participate in armed confrontations with other ethnic groups or clans. In addition to armed confrontations with the state security forces and oil company personnel, the Egbesu Boys are in regular disputes with other ethnic groups within the Niger Delta region. For example, in May 1999 the Itsekiri Survival Movement claimed that a group of Egbesu boys believed to be from the Ijaw Armed Youth kidnapped 186 adults and children during a conflict with the Itsekiri Youth. The Itsekiri Survival Movement also claimed that the majority of these kidnap victims were murdered and 30 Itsekiri towns and villages were subsequently burnt.16 Similarly, CVOs are often caught up in deadly inter-clan disputes due to lido between rival pagali which may involve revenge killings.

15

Gangster Disciples See Ibrahim., Mohammed, “An Empirical Survey of Children and Youth in Organised Armed Violence in Nigeria: Egbesu Boys, OPC and Bakassi Boys as a Case Study” (2005), Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), at www.coav.org.br.

16

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TYPOLOGY OF INVESTIGATED ARMED GROUPS This chapter compares the investigated groups in order to establish to what extent they may be considered as more or less active within the criteria established by the working definition of organised armed violence.1 Methodological considerations for this comparison are based on the combination of two techniques; Categorical Judgement and Comparative Judgement2 . Limitations in methodology and calculation of each of these techniques for this particular case study led to the creation of a ‘mixed’ methodology that could benefit from both applications. The following text briefly outlines how this methodology functions and goes on to present results of the comparative analysis. Criteria for comparison The working definition of organised armed violence includes five criteria related to the working structure and functions of armed groups that may be considered as relevant to their levels of organisation, local domination and involvement in armed violence. These are listed below, as are the attributes used when comparing these criteria between the groups investigated: Elements of a command structure: three types of command structure were identified amongst the investigated groups: militarised hierarchies, formal corporate structures and horizontally organised groups with decentralised l4ocal cells or branches.3 Although the types of structure do not necessarily reflect the levels of violence in which groups are involved, a more structured chain of command tends to be present in groups that are more deeply involved in organised crime, or come into confrontations more frequently with state forces or other armed groups. Within this comparative framework, groups with a hierarchical and military command structure are considered as being more organised than those with decentralised local cells. Power over territory: all investigated groups have established territorial boundaries within which they operate. When comparing the levels of dominion over territory that investigated groups exert, the following factors are considered in order of importance: ability to defend territory against rival groups; affecting or controlling the movement of local resi1

See ‘Methodology’. Guedes, L.E. e Sacaldini, M.S.T., Aplicação de técnicas de escalagem psicosocial na avaliação da violência juvenil organizada, ISER, 2004. Guedes, L.E. e Sacaldini, M.S.T., Relatório de Avaliação de Demanda por Programas Sociais em Belford Roxo: Estudo de caso do Lote XV , ISER, 2004. JOHNSON, L.; KOTZ, N. Thurstone’s theory of comparative judgment. Encyclopedia of Statistical Sciences. New York: Wiley, 1989. V. 9, p. 237-239. SAATY, T. L. The Analytic Hierarchy Process. Pittsburgh, RWS, 1994. SOUZA, G. The Law of Categorical Judgment Revisited, Relatório de Pesquisa. Brasília, Embrapa-SEA, 2000. SOUZA, J. Métodos de Escalagem Psicossocial. Brasília, Thesaurus, 1998. TORGERSON, W. S. Theory and Methods of Scaling. New York, Wiley, 1958. 3 See ‘Command Structure’. 2

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dents between territorial demarcations; affecting or controlling the entrance and presence of state apparatus (public services / security forces); and the levels to which group members are an openly armed presence within the areas they operate. Power over population: When comparing the levels of dominion over the local population that investigated groups exert within their territory, the following factors are considered in order of importance: to what extent the group’s presence affects the behaviour of local ‘non-involved’ residents (e.g. not going out late at night); the extent to which the group’s presence interferes with the relationship between the local population and the state (e.g. inability of local residents to report a crime to the authorities for fear of reprisal); the extent to which the group is responsible for ‘social ordering’ within the community through the maintenance of parallel laws and the provision of justice in place of the government apparatus; and the levels to which group members are an openly armed presence within the areas they operate. Power over resources: when comparing the levels of domination over local resources that investigated groups exert, the following factors are taken into account in order of importance: the extent to which groups control illicit resources within their demarcated territories (drug trafficking, criminal activity, extortion etc.); the extent to which groups control licit resources within their demarcated territory (commercial enterprise; private transport, natural resources); and the extent to which groups control government resources within their demarcated territory (e.g. the control of public services and government contracts). Armed violence: due to the difficulties in collecting reliable data for firearms-related homicide in all the areas where investigated armed groups are active,4 measuring the levels of armed violence in which they participate can become an extremely subjective process. Estimations of the following variables were used in order of importance in an attempt to minimise the subjectivity of this comparison: types of weapons used (the use of handguns and pistols being considered as representative of less ‘violent’ armed actions than the use of automatic assault rifles and other war grade weapons such as hand grenades and machine guns); the types of armed confrontations in which groups are involved (i.e. with rival groups only, or with rival groups and the police and/or the military); the number of armed actors involved and the duration of typical armed confrontations (i.e. individual / small scale rapid shootings or prolonged confrontations between heavily armed groups); the levels to which group members are an openly armed presence within the areas they operate; and where possible taking into consideration recorded levels of firearmsrelated homicides within dominated territories. Comparative methodology After defining how the above-noted criteria were to be compared between groups, each of the five criteria was placed in a comparative scale of importance using the scoring system outlined in the table below. This was done by evaluating which of the criteria is more or less important for a group to be considered as a stronger or weaker presence, and more or less active in their given territories within the context of the working definition of organised and armed violence. 4

See Part III.

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Score

Significance of the Score

1 3 5 7 9 1/3 1/5 1/7 1/9

A is equal to B A is a little stronger than B A is stronger than B A is much stronger than B A is much much stronger than B B is a little stronger than A B is stronger than A B is much stronger than A B is much much stronger than A

Using the above outlined ‘A versus B’ comparative scoring system, an evaluation matrix of the five criteria was then made. As demonstrated in the table below, A refers to those criteria on axis A (vertical), and B refers to those criteria on axis B (horizontal). On the diagonal axis we see the score 1 descending from the top left hand corner to the bottom right hand corner, as in all cases when one criterion on axis A is compared to the same criterion on axis B, as A is equal to B, the score given is 1.

B A Command structure Power over territory Power over population Power over resources Armed violence

Command Structure

Power over territory

Power over population

Power over resources

Armed Violence

1 7 7 7 9

1/7 1 3 1 7

1/7 1/3 1 1/7 7

7 1 7 1 9

9 7 7 9 1

This ‘categorical judgement’ scale presented in the above matrix was then converted to a ‘comparative judgement’ scale in order to facilitate calculations generated by the matrix. The following table shows the criterion used for this conversion.5

5

Categorical Judgement

Comparative Judgement

1 3 5 7 9 1/3 1/5 1/7 1/9

50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 40% 30% 20% 10%

For more information about the methodology of scale conversions please see Guedes & Sacaldini, ‘Aplicação de técnicas de escalagem psicosocial na avaliação da violência juvenil organizada’, ISER, Rio de Janeiro, 2004.

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Following this conversion, the scores given to each of the criteria were calculated using the comparative judgement technique6 and the results are shown below. Comparative scores Score 1- Command structure 2- Power over territory 3- Power over population 4- Power over resources 5- Armed violence

0,525 0,581 0,654 0,573 0,728

In a rapid interpretation of this table it is possible to verify that within the parameters of this comparative analysis, the criterion of ‘armed violence’ is considered as the most important when determining an armed group’s strength of presence and level of activity within the territory in which it operates. With the application of the above noted methodology, each criterion may be placed in order of determined importance within the context of this analysis. This scale of importance is presented in the graph below.

After determining their order of importance in relation to one another, each criterion is then placed in a scale that has a variation of between 0 to 1. This is done in order to determine the weight of importance assigned to each criterion when comparing them between groups. This scale is presented in the table below. 6

Ibid footnote 2

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Criterion

Numerical representation of comparative importance

1- Command structure 2- Power over territory 3- Power over population 4- Power over resources 5- Armed violence

0,17 0,19 0,21 0,19 0,24

Having established the relative comparative importance of each criterion, each investigated group was then compared in relation to each criterion. The same process of scale conversion outlined above was utilised resulting in 5 matrixes, each representing one of the comparative judgements being made. From these 5 matrixes one solitary matrix was calculated that compared each group with each other by each criterion, bringing into consideration the importance assigned to each criterion within the comparative framework presented here. The results of this matrix are presented in the table below. Scores given to investigated armed groups Score 1- Rio de Janeiro (drug factions) 2- El Salvador (maras and pandillas) 3- Honduras (maras and pandillas) 4- Medellín (paramilitaries) 5- Medellín (Narcotraficantes) 6- Medellín (Bandas Delinquentes) 7- Ecuador (Naciones) 8- Ecuador (Pandillas) 9- Jamaica (area gangs) 10- Chicago (institutionalised gangs) 11- Nigeria (Bakassi Boys) 12- Nigeria (OPC) 13- Nigeria (Egbesu Boys) 14- South Africa (institutionalised gangs) 15- Philippines (CVOs as private armies)

0,817 0,194 0,194 0,897 0,665 0,414 0,119 0,025 0,442 0,192 0,839 0,878 0,814 0,247 0,908

Typology of investigated armed groups The results presented in the above table are better understood when represented by the following graph.

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When analysing this graph three types of armed groups are clearly identifiable. Type 1 groups have a militarised and hierarchical command structure, defend their territories against rival groups, are an openly armed presence wherever they are active, may control the movement of the local population and inhibit the presence of public services including state security forces in some cases, tend to be responsible for the maintenance of social ordering amongst the local population and the provision of justice in place of the state, and dominate both illicit and licit local resources (including government contracting in some cases). Type 1 armed groups tend to be in regular or intermittent confrontation with other armed groups and/or state forces including both the military and the police.7 These confrontations may involve the use of war-grade weaponry, a relatively high number of actors and may have a prolonged duration (i.e. continue over several hours). Both Type 2 groups have hierarchical chains of command although they may be considered as less militarised that Type 1 groups. Their domination over territory and population is above that of Type 3 groups due to controlling the movement of the local population if necessary and maintaining social order via the provision of justice within the community on occasion. Although the bandas in Medellin may be openly armed within the community, they are less likely to be so than their paramilitary counterparts from the same city. The area gangs in Kingston are not an openly armed presence outside of times of conflict, although they exert considerably higher levels of control over the local population through the provision of justice than Type 3 groups. Both Type 2 groups may be considered as having more control of licit local resources than Type 3 groups, Jamai7

The Bakassi Boys may be an exception to this; as a vigilante group they are an openly armed presence within their territories and may come into conflict with other ethnic-militia. However, rather than being in conflict with state forces, they tend to work together with the local government.

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can area gangs having a history of political patronage and the control of government contracts within garrison communities. These two groups are rarely in direct confrontation with state forces or the police, and they do not interfere with the entrance of state forces into the areas in which they are active. The types of armed confrontations in which the bandas in Medellin participate tend to be more militarised and may be similar to those in which Type 3 groups participate, due to their proximity to other armed actors from the civil conflict in Colombia. Type 3 groups have a less militarised and hierarchical structure, defend their territories against rival groups but almost never control the movement of ‘non-involved’ members of the community in which they are active, and do not inhibit the presence of state security forces should they choose to enter those areas. Although local residents may fear these groups, Type 3 armed groups do not maintain social ordering, parallel laws or the provision of justice within the communities in which they are active, and will only interfere in the relationship between the local residents and the state in regard to the reporting of criminal activity within their areas. These armed groups all control illicit resources within their territories, primarily the illicit drug trade, and on occasion this will lead to investment in the local licit economy. However, they do not receive government contracts for services within the community as is the case for some Type 1 and 2 groups. Although Type 3 groups may be heavily armed, they are almost never an openly armed presence in the community outside of times of conflict. The types of armed confrontations that they are involved in tend to involve less armed actors than confrontations in which Type 1 groups participate, and tend to be rapid shootings such as ‘drivebys’ rather than prolonged confrontations with an elevated number of actors. Although military weapons may be used by Type 3 groups on occasion, their preference is automatic pistols or revolvers that can be easily concealed and they rarely enter into full combat with state forces such as the police or the military. **** Following this comparative process, therefore, Type 1 groups are a ‘quasi-military’ presence in the territories they dominate, exert high levels of control over the local population, fight directly with state forces when necessary and use war-grade weapons. Type 3 groups have less militarised characteristics, less control over local populations within the areas they dominate, will avoid direct confrontations with the state and in some cases are more representative of traditional notions of ‘youth gangs’. Type 2 groups are those that share characteristics with both Type 1 and Type 3 groups. Although Type 1 groups are an openly armed presence within the communities they dominate, and tend to be in continuous or intermittent armed confrontations with state forces, it would be a mistake to refer to them as being the most ‘violent’ or ‘dangerous’ of the armed groups investigated. This comparative framework was designed to compare investigated groups within the semantic parameters established for the category of organised armed violence, as outlined by the criteria above, in order to better understand how these groups function. It was not designed to evaluate which groups may be consid60

ered as more violent. Firearms-related homicide statistics from some of the areas covered by this study seems to support this.8 For example, gun death in El Salvador (where Type 3 groups are active) is considerably higher per capita than in all of the other localities covered by this study. Although a degree of caution must be exercised here as firearms-related mortality rates in any locality will not represent those caused only by armed groups active within them, this does suggest that even if participating in different kinds of violence (military as opposed to rapid shootings), Type 1, 2 and 3 groups are responsible for diverse levels of violence.9 Although it cannot be stated that Type 1 groups are more “violent”, they may be more detrimental to the social and economic development of the areas they dominate than Type 3 groups due to: 1) the prolonged and militarised types of violence in which they participate; and 2) the high levels of domination over population, territory and resources that they exert, usually in place of the state. Despite all of the variations in structure, function, local presence and levels of activity between Type 1, 2 and 3 groups, a number of common external risk factors are causal and/ or contributory to their establishment and continued local dominance in all cases. These are discussed in the following chapter.

8

See Part III As discussed in Part III, however, until firearms-related statistics from the exact localities in which groups are active are available for closer examination, there are limits to comparisons of firearms-related mortality rates made between whole cities when trying to compare levels of violence between armed groups active in those localities.

9

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RISK FACTORS COMMON TO THE EMERGENCE AND CONTINUED EXISTENCE OF INVESTIGATED ARMED GROUPS Despite clear differences in the structure, operation and function of the 3 types1 of armed groups investigated for this study, all share a number of causal and/or contributory factors in their emergence and continued existence. These risk factors are external to the groups themselves, and are listed below. 1. Urban enclaves of poverty: organised armed violence is not a problem that affects urban areas uniformly. In eight of the ten countries covered by this study groups dominate specific territories within urban centres. In all cases these are areas that are considerably poorer than the cities that surround them, are differentiated geographically and socially, and are often referred to locally by a specific name such as favela, comuna, ghetto, township or barrio. Socio-economic inequality of local populations within these areas compared with other sectors of society has been an important factor in the establishment and continued activity of investigated groups. Furthermore, the clear geographical demarcation of these areas has been key to their ability to define and dominate territory. In the two case studies not in urban settings,2 the territorial lines of investigated groups are set along established ethnic and clan demarcations, as opposed to distinct urban areas. Within these settings poverty has also been an important factor in the establishment and continued existence of local armed groups. 2. A high percentage of youth, disproportionately low levels of education and disproportionately high levels of unemployment: local populations have a proportionally high percentage of minors and youth in many of the areas in which investigated groups are active. Importantly, within these settings young people tend to have both disproportionately low levels of formal education, and are affected by disproportionately high levels of unemployment compared with other age groups within their communities / neighbourhoods / cities. As a result, and as discussed in Part II, local armed groups offering access to employment, money, social ascension, status and power have a willing pool of recruits, deeming forced recruitment an unnecessary tactic. 3. Limited or differentiated state presence: further distancing the geographically, socially and economically distinct settings in which armed groups are active is the limited or differentiated presence of the state within them. In some of the case studies presented here, the state is almost totally absent from these areas. Limited or absent security forces and other public services lead to a break down of the social contract3 between local residents and the state. As the state becomes ever more distant, armed groups will inevitably become a stronger presence; dominion of territory, resources and local populations is made easier as local residents are alienated from governments that fail to protect and serve them. In the most 1

See ‘Typology of Investigated Armed groups’. Ethnic-militia and vigilante groups in Nigeria and CVOs used as private armies in the Philippines. 3 Dowdney 2003:58. 2

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extreme cases, we see the emergence of Type 1 groups that begin to fulfil social, political and even military roles traditionally assumed by government. In many cases this includes social ordering through the introduction of parallel laws and the provision of justice. As Type 1 groups become ever more entrenched due to a limited state presence, they may in turn inhibit the entrance of state forces through their relationship with the local population and by becoming a more ostensibly and openly armed force. 4. State corruption: in addition to a limited presence, in all case studies the state is directly or indirectly involved with the investigated armed groups. This may be through direct financial or military support, or more typically through corrupt state representatives, primarily the police. It is questionable that these armed groups would have such a high level of access to weapons, illicit economies or an ability to dominate the territories in which they are active if this was not the case. 5. Violent state apparatus: in eight of the ten case studies, investigated armed groups did not begin as criminal organisations, but tended to become so over time, often concurrently with a process of state repression against them. In all or most case studies states are responsible for attempting to deal with armed groups primarily via reactive and repressive policing and legislative policy.4 At worst, this includes arbitrary imprisonment, torture and summary executions.5 States cannot be held responsible for the violence which investigated armed groups perpetrate. However, their focus on repression has failed in most cases6 to reduce either the presence of the groups or the levels of violence in which they are involved. In some cases repressive tactics have considerably worsened the problem as some groups have reacted by becoming increasingly organised, armed and willing to directly confront state forces.7 6. Access to illicit economies: in all case studies armed groups fund themselves completely or in part through illicit or criminal activities, primarily drug dealing. This has been a defining feature for many groups in their increasing territorialisation, use of violence and in some cases exertion of control over local populations. If access to illicit economies was denied to these groups, through the legalisation of banned drugs for example, their financial self-sustainability would be greatly diminished. This would decrease their ability to offer local youths an alternative to poverty and unemployment, as well as their ability buy firearms and corrupt state representatives, especially street-based police officers. 7. Access to small arms: firearms are tools that can be used for the domination of territory, local populations and resources, especially illicit ones. In all case studies, armed groups have easy access to sophisticated firearms, including those designed for warfare, due to: low levels of state gun control within the countries in question8; high levels of small arms prolifera4

See ‘Public Policy: current trends in dealing with children and youth in organised armed violence’. Ibid. 6 See ‘Public Policy: current trends in dealing with children and youth in organised armed violence’. 7 See ‘Historical perspectives’. 8 Including El Salvador, Brazil, USA, Colombia, Nigeria, South Africa, Philippines and Honduras. 5

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tion within the regions in question often due to neighbouring conflicts9 ; and/or groups being active in areas that are on illicit small arms transit routes.10 Within the definitional context of organised armed violence, groups can be separated by the type of command structure they utilise, their dominion over territory, population and resources, and the types of violence in which they participate. As discussed in the previous chapter, the levels of violence in which the different armed groups investigated take part do not correspond solely to their Type (1, 2 or 3). What is clear, however, is that Type 1 armed groups are active in areas that are affected to a greater degree by the above noted risk factors than the areas in which Type 3 groups are active. Although this is only an observation at this point, the correlation between the degree to which a specific area suffers these risk factors and the types of groups that are active within them, is notable. This is especially the case for areas that suffer from an absence or differential treatment of the state, or state corruption; all of the investigated Type 1 groups that exercise social, political or even military functions normally carried out by government, do so in areas where the state has little or no presence. As discussed in ‘Relations with the community’, groups that are an openly armed presence within their communities exert more dominion over territory, local populations and resources. The ability to be an openly armed presence in the community depends on the absence or coercion of state security forces. Being well armed depends on a group’s ability to become financially self-sustainable, in most cases by drug dealing, and access to small arms, due to lax state gun control or being situated on illicit trade routes. Therefore, as discussed further in ‘Conclusions and Recommendations’, what this may mean is that, by limiting the degree to which the above risk factors affect specific areas, it may be possible to make armed groups a less present, armed and dominant local force.

9

Including Central and South America, Africa and Southeast Asia. Including Jamaica, Nigeria and Brazil.

10

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PART II CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN ORGANISED ARMED VIOLENCE Children and youth are employed by, or participate in, all of the armed groups investigated by this study. Although their levels of participation and specific functions vary by group, and despite the fact that the groups studied are diverse in their type and geographical setting, there are a number of striking similarities to their involvement. Based on structured, semi-structured and informal interviews1 , Part II identifies the commonalities and differences of child and youth involvement in the armed groups covered by this study. Part II focuses on respondents’ personal histories, processes of involvement, why they joined armed groups, their working functions, participation in armed violence, their perspectives for the future and finally, some brief considerations regarding gender issues. These children are very quick, and when there is a crisis they bring with them to the confrontation new assets…they have the willingness, and ability, to kill or kidnap oil company expatriates and Nigerian military personnel, and they have successfully closed down and destroyed many oil sector infrastructures in Warri and some other places in the Niger Delta. Member of the Egbesu Boys, Niger Delta

1

See ‘Methodology’

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PERSONAL HISTORIES In order to identify some common trends in the personal histories of interviewed child and youth members of armed groups, this chapter presents a number of factors shared by many of the interviewees in regard to their family, educational and economic backgrounds. Family background The following commonalities were identified: Single parent families: The most striking similarity relating to the family backgrounds of children and youths interviewed in all countries was that for those that still lived at home, many lived with only one parent, invariably their mother. For example, in Ecuador, 80% of under 18 year-old pandilleros interviewed after being detained in halfway houses (Hogar de Transito) lived with only one parent, usually their mother. The reasons for respondents living in single-parent families varied by country. In some cases parents had split up, in others fathers had simply abandoned the family or had been killed. The latter was the case for two of the ten child and youth CVO members interviewed in the Philippines. In both cases, their father’s death led to them joining CVOs whilst still minors: one to seek revenge for his father’s killing and the other in order to earn enough money to support his family. Another respondent from Kingston, Jamaica, said he had witnessed his father, a ‘gunman’ for a local gang, killed by police. Violence in the home and poor relations with the family: Interviewed children and youths in seven of the ten countries involved in this study reported violence in the home or having poor relationships with their parents. Violence in the home usually originated with the parents. In Ecuador interviewees commented that poor communication with parents was their worst problem at home and all said they preferred their pandilla or nacion to their family. In El Salvador, some interviewees claimed their stepfathers were abusive. In Colombia, children spoke of similar experiences. My childhood was tough. My dad and mum had fights, physical and verbal ones; there still are a lot of conflicts. My childhood was tough because I was forced to grow up [too fast], they weren’t on my side when they should have been and my mom couldn’t find any solution, she was confused and that’s why we didn’t have a good upbringing. 15 year old member of a banda delincuente, Medellin

Overcrowded housing: Respondents from armed groups in three of the countries included in the study spoke of living in overcrowded housing, often with extended families. In South Africa, for example, the average number of household members of interviewees was eight people, usually in two and three bedroom flats. In the Philippines the average number of household members of interviewees was six and in Ecuador eight of the ten interviewees claimed to live in cramped housing. In addition to being a factor in inter-family conflicts, overcrowding in the home may lead to children preferring to spend more time on the street. As discussed in ‘Process of Involvement’, time spent in the street and away from the house66

hold is a contributing factor for some children and youths joining the types of armed groups investigated here. Educational background The principle commonality for interviewed children and youths from all countries was that nearly all of them had dropped out of school either immediately before or after joining their respective group.1 In Cape Town all eight gang members interviewed for this study had dropped out of school upon joining a gang and none were studying at the time of interview. In Colombia, the majority of the interviewed child and youth members of the bandas delincuentes were not studying. In Nigeria, of the ten Bakassi Boys interviewed, only two had finished secondary school and five had never even attended secondary school. Of the 17 members of the OPC interviewed, seven had never been to school at all. In El Salvador, interviewed pandilleros spoke of poor school records, suspensions and expulsions and only one of the 12 under 19 year-old interviewees was studying at the time of interview. None of the 14 gang members interviewed in Chicago had completed high school, all having dropped out immediately before or after joining a gang.2 In the Philippines, nine of the ten CVO members interviewed had dropped out of school early. In Ecuador only three of the 12 members of pandillas and naciones interviewed were studying at the time of interview. Interviewees gave a number of reasons as to why they finished studying prematurely. The most common were: Poverty: not enough money to pay school fees / dropping out of school to work. School was not seen as worthwhile: many children and young people interviewed did not see school as worthwhile as in their view it was unlikely to lead to a job. I want to have money and be a very successful trader rather than going to school. You see, the educated people we have in this country today are not the rich ones, so going to school is not my priority but making money as a businessman and providing my family with all the good things of life, including an education. 16 year old member of the Bakassi Boys, Nigeria

Poor behaviour / expulsion: in many cases being expelled from school was due to the fact that respondents had already joined gangs or other armed groups whilst at school and this had affected their behaviour within school grounds. Q. How far did you get in school? A. Uh, 11th grade. 1

Interestingly, a study in Brazil recently found similar findings following a quantitative study of the prison population in Rio de Janeiro state carried out by the Getulio Vargas Foundation. Results demonstrated that in 2003, 80.3% of the 21 thousand prison population (96.7% of whom were male and 66.5% were black or of mixed race) did not complete basic education. (see article ‘Young, single, poor black men are more likely to go to prison in Rio de Janeiro’, 20/08/04, www.coav.org.br) 2 Some had returned to study as mature students.

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Q. How come you didn’t finish? A. Gang bangin’, fightin’ in school. Southside gang member, Chicago

Having enemies at school: upon joining a group, especially street gangs, pandillas and naciones, drug factions and bandas delincuentes, some children reported having to curtail their studies due to encountering rivals from other groups whilst at school or on their way to school. I began studying when I was 6 years old but I quit when I was 14. I studied up to my second year in high school, but before that I had already quit [once] due to financial problems. When I came back I had to quit again because a banda was threatening my life; if I went through their territory they would kill me, so I had to leave. We would get together to do homework sometimes, although it was difficult because where we lived is surrounded by rival bandas and one couldn’t walk freely, so we didn’t study [together] much and that’s why I couldn’t succeed in my studies. 16 year old member of a banda delincuente, Medellin

A cyclical problem: many respondents’ parents were also uneducated or had low levels of education. This had often led to them leaving school in order to help support their family as their parents’ lack of education meant low wages often from manual labour. My father and my mother did not get to finish school. They do not know how to read or write – not even their names. I have many brothers and sisters and I am the eldest child. A 17 year old member of a CVO who joined at 14 years of age, Maguindanao

Economic background As discussed in ‘Area of Study Profile’, the areas which the investigated groups dominate, whether urban or rural, are invariably poor. When asked to describe their family’s economic status, nearly all the children and youth interviewed said they were from poor or relatively poor backgrounds. Nine of the ten children and youth CVO members interviewed in the Philippines claimed to be from poor families. Maguindanao, the province where CVOs acting as private armies were investigated for this study, is one of the ten poorest provinces in the country. A history of conflict in the region has prevented economic growth and most of the CVO members interviewed had parents who were subsistence farmers or fishermen. All interviewed children and youth in Colombia were from the city’s comunas3 and nine of the 11 interviewees claimed to have serious economic problems in their families. In Nigeria, five of the ten respondents from the Bakassi Boys cited poverty as the principal reason for joining the group. In Ecuador, nine of the 12 pandilleros and members of the naciones interviewed said they were from poor families. One respondent said that his family had an income of US$ 140 per month to support six members. Respondents from the street gangs in Chicago were also from poor backgrounds. Some of the interviews in Chicago took place with gang members from the African American neighbourhood of North Lawndale. In North Lawndale more than half of children live in poverty.4 3

Poor urban shanty-towns or slums. 2000 US census as cited by Hagedorn., John M, “Institutionalised Gangs and Violence in Chicago” (2005), University of Illinois-Chicago, Great Cities Institute, at www.coav.org.br.

4

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Some gang members in South Africa saw their families as relatively well off and the majority of interviewees did not consider themselves to be from poor backgrounds. However Manenberg, the area focused upon in the study, is an impoverished neighbourhood where unemployment is rife. In South Africa unemployment is particularly high amongst the coloured population, the racially defined group that makes up Manenberg and Elsie River’s street gangs, increasing from 23% in 1995 to 30% in 2001.5 Although some gang members in Manenberg had been employed previous to interview, it had always been unskilled or semi-skilled labour that had not lasted for longer than a year. Similar to gang members in South Africa, interviewed pandilleros in El Salvador and Ecuador had a history of unskilled or semi-skilled casual labour that was always short term and rarely led to fulltime employment. Conclusion Although there are undoubtedly more differences than commonalities in respondents’ personal backgrounds, in general terms we can see some common themes. A significant number of those interviewed reported having some difficulties at home (single parent families, poor relations with parents, domestic violence), almost all had failed to complete basic education and most came from poor, or relatively poor backgrounds.

5

Stats SA (2002) Unemployment in South Africa. Pretoria: Government Printers, as cited by Leggett, Ted., “Terugskiet (returning fire): Growing up on the street corners of Manenberg, South Africa”, (2005), Institute for Security Studies, at www.coav.org.br.

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PROCESS OF INVOLVEMENT This section looks at how children get involved in armed groups. This includes presenting common trends in the age of recruitment and stages of involvement of respondents, as well as examples of active recruitment by armed groups where relevant. Why children join armed groups is discussed in the next chapter. Age of recruitment The exact age that children join armed groups varies slightly by country and group. However, the period at which children join armed groups is remarkably similar in all countries included in this study. In South Africa all interviewees joined street gangs at the onset of adolescence (between 12 and 15 years of age), the average age of full membership being 13 years. Children and youths interviewed in Nigeria tended to work as informants for ethnicmilitia and vigilante groups before being formally recruited. The majority of Bakassi Boys interviewed began working as informants for the group at 16 years of age and joined officially at 17 years. Interviewed members of the Egbesu Boys had a similar trajectory, usually working as informants for the group by the age of 16 years and only becoming officially initiated at 17 years of age. Interviewed members the OPC tended to start younger, 15 being the average age at which interviewees joined the group. The average age that interviewees joined CVOs in the Philippines was 15, although some had joined as young as ten years of age. In Colombia, interviewees became involved in the bandas delincuentes between 11 and 16 years although on average interviewees had joined by the age of 14. Many of those interviewed claimed to have had contact with firearms and friends who were armed from the age of seven. The average age that male interviewees in Ecuador had joined a nacion or pandilla was 13 years although female interviewees tended to be a little older, usually being between 16 and 17 years old. In El Salvador the average age that the 12 interviewees entered a pandilla was 13.5 years. Of the 14 gang members interviewed in the Chicago, the average age of entry into a gang was 13 years of age. Similarly in Brazil, the average age that interviewed children and youth had joined a drug faction was 13 years and one month.1 In Jamaica, respondents had joined gangs between the ages of 11 and 13. Excluding Nigeria, where interviewees had joined ethnic-militia and vigilante groups between 15-16 years of age, the average age that interviewees from all countries involved in this study joined armed groups was 13 years six months. However, as discussed in ‘Stages of involvement’ below, in most cases joining an armed group is not a one off event but rather a gradual process that may take months or even years. Therefore, there is often a difference between the age at which this process starts and the age when full membership is gained. 1

Dowdney 2003:148

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Decreasing age of involvement A common theme in many of the groups investigated in this study is the decreasing age of child and youth members. Interviewed local residents, activists, community leaders, dons and academics in Kingston, Jamaica, all agreed that younger and younger children and youths are becoming involved in organised armed violence in the city. Dr Kingsley Stewart of the University of the West Indies commented during interview that children as young as twelve years old may be used by area gangs to carry weapons. He explained that young adolescents are using guns in gang activity, something that would not have been tolerated before the 1980s: “…there is increased access to guns. In the 70s, older people would never allow a twelve or thirteen year-old to be armed.” There was also consensus amongst interviewed gang members and local residents in Manenberg, Cape Town, that the age of gang involvement has decreased over the years. Today you get the gangsters – they are all children from 12 up to 14. In my time I know about gangsters. If you want to be a gangster you must start from 20 years old. Elder community member, Manenberg

Interviews with elder residents from favela communities in Rio de Janeiro reveal that it was not common for drug factions to utilise child labour before the end of the 1980s or, if children were used as look-outs before this period, they would rarely be armed.2 Today, however, an estimated 50% to 60% of the drug factions’ work force is made up of under eighteen year-olds.3 Previously adolescents and children were aviãozinhos4. They weren’t so involved […] not now, now they’re armed. Elder favela resident, Rio de Janeiro

The decreasing age of armed CVO members in the Philippines was commented on by an adult CVO member in Maguindanao. Similar to Rio de Janeiro and Kingston, in the Philippines informants cited the 1980s as the period when children first began to appear in the private armies that were later to become CVOs. As discussed in ‘Historical Perspectives’, the majority of the armed groups investigated were established well before or by the 1980s. Growing up in communities where armed groups are a revered and dominant presence in the street – often the only domain of children and young people outside of the house and school – undoubtedly has an influence on minors growing up in those communities. The 1980s was a period in which many of the groups investigated began to get involved in drug sales, and consequently became more of a presence at street level, as well as increasingly organised, territorial and armed. These changes meant that, as well as being an influential presence within the communities they dominated, armed groups offered more working positions to local children and teenagers, as well as making firearms more accessible to them. 2

Dowdney 2003:36. Dowdney 2003:51. 4 Name given to children used to carry messages or drugs to other traffickers or clients. 3

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The maras and pandillas of Honduras are an exception to this trend. Interviews with pandilleros in the Zona Metropolitana del Valle de Sula suggest that the majority of members are now adults when previously the majority had been minors. This is attributed to both the maturing nature of these groups as well as the fact that some groups have recently limited recruitment of under 15 year-olds due to state repression. Stages of involvement The process of involvement for children into all the armed groups investigated by this study is a gradual process rather than an immediate transition. Furthermore, despite the diversity of these groups, this process follows an almost identical pattern for children and youth in all countries included in this study. On analysing interviews from all countries, the following five key stages of involvement were identified.

Diagram 2.1 Stages of involvement

Although the case for most, the above stages do not always represent an exact chronological progression that all recruits follow before becoming fully armed members. Some children may miss out stages due to the manner in which they join. For example, a child joining a group through family connections may miss out stage 3, as he/she may already be considered trustworthy. Or, if an institutionalised street gang recruits an entire adolescent gang formation, or the Bakassi Boys recruit new members through an application process and interviews, stages 2 and 3 may be all or partially missed. Despite individual anomalies, however, these stages represent a process of involvement that is common to all armed groups investigated and the majority of interviewees followed this path to some degree. 1. Exposure by setting All children and youth interviewed for this study grew up in communities, neighbourhoods or rural areas in which one or more armed groups play a dominant role. Growing up in such a setting undoubtedly affects a child’s socialisation process. In many cases dominant armed groups become part of a child’s social experience, making the groups appear as legitimate social institutions. For many children growing up in these communities, therefore, exposure to an armed group is a normal childhood experience. For example, in Chicago, street gangs have been a traditional fixture in some communities for more than a hundred years and in most Black, Mexican and Puerto Rican neighbourhoods gangs date back to the 1950s. For many kids growing up in such environments joining a gang becomes a “natural thing to do”.5 As one young gang member explains 5

See Hagedorn., John M, “Institutionalised Gangs and Violence in Chicago” (2005), University of IllinoisChicago, Great Cities Institute, at www.coav.org.br.

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A. …I wouldn’t say they [the gang] was just like family, but it was just natural. Q. How old were you? A. I was like twelve, thirteen

In addition to being a strong or dominant presence in the community, many of the armed groups investigated are very present on the street; a domain which is an important part of adolescence experience. Exposure by context is therefore heightened by the fact that the members of armed groups and adolescences share a common stomping ground. As a pandillero from San Salvador explained, “First, I went up to them. There was a corner that the gang members of the gang I belong to hung out on.” After becoming exposed in the street, many children become curious. Curiosity can turn to fascination and awe of older and powerful figures that rule this shared space. In many cases members of armed groups are well aware of the fascination that children and youths hold for them. As one Bakassi Boy explained, “In Aba, every little kid wants to be called a Bakassi Boy”. In some cases, due to coming from the same locality, non-involved children and youth are associated with the groups that dominate their area by the police or by young people from communities in which rival groups are active. This serves to heighten notions of identity amongst adolescents with local armed groups and as discussed in the following chapter, may even lead to young people joining a local armed group for protection. 2. Introduction by family or friends Introduction to armed group members by friends and family was a recurring pattern in all countries included in this study. For many, friendship precedes gang membership and adds to the exposure affecting all children that grow up in settings dominated by armed groups. …one friend became a gangster and then his friend became a gangster, as they grew up. Junior member of the Hard Livings, Manenberg Q. Who were you involved with? A. Unknowns. I feel like I was with a gang, that’s who all I’d be with, so I guess by association. Q. That’s where your friends were... A. Right. And like I got initiated in the gang and that’s who you be with, so that’s who you’re with. Unknown Vice Lord, Chicago

For others, having a family member or members active in the armed group was a contributory factor to joining. My uncle has been working for Bakassi Boys since 1999 when I was 16 years old, and I used to keep his gun for him at that time […]. I developed an interest in joining the group in 2000 at the age of 17 years. Member of the Bakassi Boys, Nigeria When my father died, the mayor approached me and asked me what I planned to do. I guess it was because I’m the eldest child and my father was no longer around. I asked him if I could take over what my father started as a CVO. He didn’t object. 17 year old member of a CVO that joined at 14 years of age, Manguindanao, Philippines

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One respondent in Kingston told researchers that his father, brothers and cousins were all ‘gunmen’ for area gangs or involved in criminal activity. Having close family in the group was reported in Rio de Janeiro, Chicago, the Philippines and Jamaica as a helpful factor for moving up through any ranking system. 3. Transitional phase Before full membership in investigated armed groups, recruits usually pass through a transitional phase during which they are evaluated by the group. Although the details of this stage vary by country and group, it is present in all groups investigated. In some groups this stage is informal and based on potential recruits simply hanging out with members and doing favours for them. In other groups, the trial phase is more structured and formal and based on children completing small jobs, understudying older members or completing apprenticeships. Regardless of whether this stage is formal or informal, in all armed groups investigated it serves as an important observation period to assess whether a minor is potentially a trustworthy and capable member. Hanging out and doing favours: In the Philippines children may spend time with CVO operatives due to family or friends being active members. This phase is referred to as ‘pasamasama’ or ‘tagging-along’ and serves to inspire the trust of the mayor or barangay captain and other CVO members. As one young CVO member explained, “The mayor has known me since before. My father used to bring me along with them. I think that’s why I was chosen to take his place.” In other countries children hang out with members of armed groups often because they share the same space as them: primarily the street. One day I started hanging around with the men [drug traffickers]. I started to carry a backpack, a bag full of bullets, and I continued hanging around with the men. Now I’m a gerente de boca6 and I carry my own pistol. 16 year-old drug trafficker for the Comando Vermelho, Rio de Janeiro

In Chicago, unless entering through family ties or being directly recruited by older members (see ‘Active recruitment’ below), children and youths will invariably pass through a phase of ‘hanging out’ with members before ‘turning’, or joining. As well as being a means by which gang members can evaluate a potential recruit, this also reflects the transition from an adolescent’s previous lifestyle into gang life. So I was, like, I was goin’ to school but not, um every day […] you know what I’m sayin’, um cut school with the fellas, smokin’ weed, start sellin’ drugs, start gang bangin’ at cars, breakin’ cars, you know what I’m sayin’, doin’ all that […] Like, um, hangin’ with my friends I used to hang with, all that stopped I started hangin’ with, like, man, all gang bangers. I turned to that gang-banger life.

As noted by the following 16 year-old drug trafficker from Rio de Janeiro, hanging around with faction members from a young age may lead to carrying out favours for them. You start by watching...and there’s a trafficker...where you live. You’ve known that kid since his birth, and so you know him and he asks you to look after a gun, look after something for him, and you do 6

Drug sales-point manager

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it. And then before you know it, you’re in the middle of it all, without even being aware you’re already involved.

Small jobs and apprenticeships: Once known to group members but before being considered full members, potential recruits are often given small jobs to complete. In the Philippines children and youths known to a CVO may be given minor tasks such as acting as bodyguards for the mayor or other officials. Children accept these knowing that such jobs may lead to full membership. One interviewee remembered how his first small job had been to escort a councillor during bus inspections. This and other similar small jobs eventually led him to be formally accepted in a CVO. In Nigeria, interviewed members of the Bakassi Boys explained that children work as informants on a casual basis before being formally recruited into the group. You know these children they are very smart. They informed us when they discovered where criminals hide out in strategic areas. Although, they are being paid for this but not much until they become full members after passing the training test for recruitment into the group. Adult member of the Bakassi Boys, Nigeria

In some armed groups there is a more structured process that includes a formal trial period or apprenticeship. In El Salvador, for example, adolescents wanting to join a pandilla must pass through the ‘vacilando’ stage during which they will spend most of their time with the pandilla despite not being formally a member. This process serves as both a trial period for the pandilla and the recruit before he/she is formally incorporated into the group. In a similar process in Ecuador, those wanting to join a nacion have to participate in a three and six-month trial period, during which time they must fulfil tasks for the older members of the group. These may include: reporting on the movements of rival groups or the police; information gathering; attracting new members; or acquiring money or material goods for the nacion. Before being formally admitted to the Egbesu Boys through initiation by an Egbesu priest, minors are expected to understudy older, more experienced members. Young ones less than eighteen years old understudy the older ones and gradually graduate to full arms carriers after being initiated by the ‘Egbesu’ priest, who normally resides in the forest somewhere near the community. Member of the Egbesu Boys,Niger Delta

Similarly, the 26 Americans in Elsie’s River have an extended period of observation and mentorship before full membership is granted. In Colombia, bandas delincuentes and other armed groups in the comunas of Medellin let children and youth members take peripheral working positions before admitting them as full members. This may include being an arms carrier, messenger, ‘mule’7 or informant. 4. Full membership Once a young recruit has passed through the transitional phase and is considered trustworthy and capable, he/she is admitted formally to the group. In some cases this process is only marked by being given a weapon and being paid. In other cases, it involves a rite of passage. 7

Drug carrier.

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For example, in South Africa the Hard Livings have a somewhat informal process of admission whereby young recruits are questioned as to their loyalty to the gang. If judged as loyal, they are accepted and immediately armed. In contrast, upon formal admittance and having passed through a period of observation and mentorship, potential members of the 26 Americans are given gang tattoos, known as ‘chappies’. First you must be a soldier. First you must learn the rules from the Americans. You mustn’t talk out. You mustn’t speak with other people. If you speak then you must speak in his language. Not in language that I can hear you. Then he is speaking his code language. ‘Salute’, ‘horsh’ and things like that. After that – they make you a mark. They make you a tattoo – that I can see your heart is right. You can stand …if you haven’t got a chappie then your heart says: “no, I am scared”. Senior Elsie’s River 26 American, Manenberg

Having worked informally as informants, many youth recruits for the Bakassi Boys are formally inducted through an interview process. Recruitment of vigilantes is carried out by dividing commercial markets into zones, from each of which at least 6 vigilantes are selected based on interviews and on past record. Newly recruited young and middle-aged members undergo training on the rules of the organisation for two months before they are sent out on any operation. Adult member of the Bakassi Boys, Nigeria

Although adult Bakassi Boys claimed that formal recruitment can only take place when candidates are 18 years of age or over, six of the ten interviewed Bakassi Boys claimed to have been formally recruited at 17 years of age. To become a full member of the Egbesu Boys, recruits must participate in registration and an initiation ceremony which involves body incision, a bath or sprinkling with Egbesu water and invocation of the Egbesu spirit. Potential pandilleros that pass the ‘vacilando’ stage and want to be formally admitted to the pandilla must subject themselves to a public event known as ‘el brincarse’. This consists of three members of the pandilla being selected to beat the candidate for a determined time period. In the case of Barrio 18, the period of time that a candidate must endure being beaten is 18 seconds. If a candidate survives, he/she becomes a full member of the group. Similarly to gang members in South Africa, on becoming full members, pandilleros often get tattooed. According to respondents, this signifies leaving the old life behind, complete and lifelong involvement in the pandilla and the acceptance of death as a possibility due to that involvement. Pandilleros may start by tattooing their arms or bodies in parts that are easy to hide from view. However, the irrevocability of leaving a ‘civilian’ life behind is most clearly signified by pandilla related tattoos on the face or neck. Q. Which were your latest tattoos? A. The ones on my face. Q. And wasn’t it hard to decide to get tattooed [there]? A. Yes, I had to think about it. On the street, you have to walk around with your face tattooed...since I didn’t have any reason to be afraid, I did it. pandillero, San Salvador

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Photograph 2.1 Tattooed pandillero, El Salvador Luis Galdamez / Reuters / 29.08.03 19-year-old Emerson Medina, a member of ‘Mara Salvatrucha’ (MS), sits with other alleged gang members after they were arrested in San Salvador during police operations that were part of the El Salvadorian government’s ‘mano duro’ policy. Facial tattoos clearly demonstrate a pandilleros choice to leave behind ‘civilian life’.

5. Being armed Upon full membership to all the groups investigated in this study, children and youth members are armed. In most cases this happens almost immediately and this process is discussed more fully in ‘Armed violence’. In some cases, however, interviewees also talked about being armed during stage 3 and before formal initiation into the group. For instance, six of the ten interviewees from the Bakassi Boys had started working for the group at 16 years of age as informants; some of them claimed to have been armed during this transitional period. In El Salvador, some pandilleros claimed to have been armed whilst still ‘vacilando’ in order to participate in robberies or armed confrontations with other groups, and similar stories were heard by researchers in South Africa. Active recruitment The only formal recruitment processes that came to light during this study were amongst vigilantes and ethnic militia in Nigeria and institutionalised street gangs in Chicago. For example, the OPC have been known to distribute application forms to traditional leaders in villages across Lagos state and prominent local politicians may recommend prospective members to the group. Interviews with gang members in Chicago also uncovered stories of active recruitment of children already in adolescent gangs by institutionalised street gang members. 77

Q. And when did you first start getting involved with the SDs8? A. Well, [we] was not involved [with the SDs] it was a crew we had with some kids called the Flamingo Boys. It was about fifty of us, I was about ten years old already at that time, when I started hanging with them. And when one of the SD’s just came out of prison, I was already twelve, I had just turned twelve, and he tells us, “Look, if you want to turn SDs...” because there was nobody on this block. So, we all agreed to it. That’s when we ended up, all of us, turned SDs. Q. So, you all turned... A. We all turned together, from the little group. Some went to different gangs because they had brothers that were in them.

Despite these two examples, however, as discussed in ‘Risk factors, responses and influences’ in the following chapter, nearly all interviewed children and youth claimed to have joined their respective groups voluntarily and were not actively recruited. Whether voluntary recruitment is truly voluntary in such cases is debateable and also discussed in the following chapter. Whether truly voluntary or not, what is clear is that in all of the communities where investigated armed groups operate, there is an abundance of adolescents, primarily male, seeking membership. As a result, few of the armed groups investigated need active recruitment policies. In many cases, as discussed above, members may informally recruit friends or family, yet, due to their popularity amongst primarily male adolescents, they have little need to formally recruit their members.

8

Satan’s Disciples

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VULNERABILITY AND RESILIENCE: WHY CHILDREN ‘CHOOSE’ TO JOIN ARMED GROUPS Moving away from notions of ‘deviant’ or ‘criminal’ characters, this chapter does not attempt to build a profile of the type of children that become involved in organised armed violence. Instead, common themes in the reasons given by children for becoming involved in organised armed violence are presented. The chapter then identifies how these reasons are related to a number of external risk factors and influences that are common to high-risk environments in which children and youth become involved. The notion of ‘choice’ and voluntary recruitment is then questioned, not because children and youth do not make valid individual choices, but because those that do ‘choose’ to join an armed group often have limited options and are affected by strong influences. Children’s and youths’ vulnerability and resilience to participating in armed groups is then discussed. It is argued that children become vulnerable to joining armed groups when their personal contexts limit possible responses to external risk factors, and include external influences that either encourage group membership or do not discourage it sufficiently. The chapter concludes by presenting a small control group that may be considered as resilient. In doing so, it is argued that resilience to joining an armed group may be boosted amongst children and youth that live in high-risk environments by creating specific interventions that positively affect personal contexts. Why children and youths say they join armed groups The reasons given by interviewees for joining an armed group are outlined below. The significance of these reasons is discussed in ‘Risk factors, responses and influences’. Poverty: The majority of interviewees are from poor families and communities. All of the armed groups investigated offer financial reward to members, either as fixed salaries, opportunities for commission-based drug sales or the infrastructure necessary for armed robberies and other crimes. Poverty was frequently cited by interviewees as a reason for joining an armed group. To tell you the truth, being part of OPC is a very dangerous thing but I think for now I have no choice because this is the only thing that fetches me my daily livelihood. I know one day I will return to school and live normally. This is not a normal life. I know it is not because you can die any day or at any time. 16 year old member of the OPC, Nigeria

Access to consumer goods: Making enough money to buy consumer goods is a strong incentive for poor adolescents to join an armed group, and was often referred to by respondents as an important reason for joining. The possession of consumer goods in most cultures is equated with success and status and the economically marginalised around the world are just as affected by consumerism as other socio-economic groups. For many children growing up in poor communities, the ability to own a pair of Nike shoes, designer clothes and a gold chain is worth risking your life for. I got involved because I didn’t get back to school, I had no money and I had fun with them [bandas], riding motorbikes and all. I was 12, I already knew some guys from the group. I began to know them better and hung out with them throughout the day. I liked everything they did: the motor-

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bikes, the money…that excites anyone. One enters the group because of things like that, or else I wouldn’t belong. I like to be partying, and hanging out with girls. Member of a banda delincuente, Medellin

From street gangs to bandas and drug factions, showing off consumer goods publicly is an important characteristic of pertaining to many armed groups. A gang member from Chicago explains the intoxicating influence that such behaviour has on kids growing up in a poor community. “They was making good money at the time. They was making nice money, rides slick, you know what I’m saying? Dressing nice, latest clothes, latest shoes, know what I’m saying, it was something you wanted to see. The promise of such apparent wealth makes armed groups attractive yet the reality for many young members is that they will not make the kind of money they expect.1 Yet the illusion of wealth encouraged by older members flaunting their possessions is an attractive quality, and one that is a powerful influence for many children and youth in the vicinity of group activity. Lack of alternatives: Interviewees in all countries mentioned having a lack of alternatives to being in an armed group as a reason for involvement. The illusion of wealth that armed groups offer children from poor backgrounds is strengthened by the fact that most children and youth interviewed had few other options for making an income. Even though the majority of interviewees were making a subsistence wage or less through pertaining to an armed group, many considered this as better than the alternative: unemployment or a ‘deadend job’. In Colombia, interviewed children’s parents who were employed tended to work in the minimum wage domestic or public transport sectors. Interviewees from Colombia expressed a desire not to follow their parents into such jobs, preferring to make an income through joining a banda delincuente regardless of the risk. For others, there isn’t even the choice of a minimum wage job. How did I become a bodyguard? Well, almost all of my friends before…classmates…all of them got work in other places, got to continue their studies. I had nothing. At least as a bodyguard, I was earning some money. Member of a CVO, Maguindanao

Coloureds interviewed in Cape Town felt that they were discriminated against in the job market during apartheid for not being ‘white’ enough, and have been increasingly discriminated against in the job market since democracy for not being ‘black’ enough. This may explain the high levels of unemployment amongst the coloured group in South Africa.2 In reaction to the lack of employment options he faced, one South African gang member defiantly claimed that he and his fellow gangsters had chosen crime as a job. “We don’t want to work like other people do. We don’t want to work for other people, for the white man.” Access to guns, status and girls: Firearms are carried publicly by members of groups investigated in four of the countries involved in this study. Although groups in the other countries included in this study do not carry firearms openly, they do use them publicly during 1

See ‘Payment’ in ‘The working functions of children and youth in organised armed violence’ According to Stats SA, unemployment amongst coloured people has increased in South Africa by 35% between 1995 and 2001. (Stats SA, Unemployment in South Africa, Pretoria, Government Printers, as cited by Leggett, Ted., “Terugskiet (returning fire): Growing up on the street corners of Manenberg, South Africa”, (2005), Institute for Security Studies, at www.coav.org.br.

2

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confrontations with rivals or the police. As a result, children and youths in all the communities where armed groups operate are aware that membership will bring them access to firearms. Guns were viewed by those interviewed with a certain awe and fascination and often referred to during interviews as an integral reason for joining an armed group. I always liked guns, because in my neighbourhood there were a lot of turf wars. I was involved in one of the gangs since I was very young, and later I had to leave because they didn’t want minors. I got addicted first and I used to hang out with them because they smoked marijuana. They asked me if I liked guns and I told them yes. I was 12 years old. I got in because I liked it, because they needed more people for the confrontations and [at the time] they were looking for minors and we all wanted to get in. I got in and I liked it. 15 year old member of a banda delincuente, Medellin

Access to guns was a motivation given by gang members in Cape Town for joining a gang. One interviewed youth gang member in South Africa joined a street gang in Manenberg at 14 years of age in order to get a gun. I was with Christian. We were 14 years old then. That was the time when we threw stones. I saw that wasn’t going to work, because we threw stones at them and they shot at us. So I decided to get a gun too and shoot back as well. You shoot at me and therefore I will shoot back at you.

Firearms are important to individuals in poor communities for both economic and symbolic reasons. Particularly for young people with low levels of education that lack access to the work market, guns are a work tool that can be used to generate an income either through individual criminal acts or obtaining remunerated positions within an armed group. Yet, more than just a tool to earn money or defend territory, guns are particularly attractive to young and disenfranchised males that lack the legal channels for social ascension. Firearms are symbolically important because holding one immediately changes a young man’s relationship with other people in his community, putting him in a position of power and status and often creating reverence amongst his peers, both male and female. Working for an armed group that dominates the community adds to this aura of importance. The combination of both weapons and armed groups and the power and income that these can bring adolescents and young people is a seductive mix for any youth that has limited socio-economic options. For example, a 16 year-old drug trafficker explained how joining the Comando Vermelho changed his relationship with elders in his community. A. Ah...now it’s different. Now it’s not like it was. Everyone speaks well to me. Many of those that beat me are now scared of me. They think I’ll do something. I get angry [...] now nobody jokes with me, messes me around.

A CVO member also explained how joining a CVO had affected his and fellow members standing in the community. In his case, the status gained from being in a CVO was also linked to notions of security and honour. I guess it’s ok [being a CVO member] because it’s a very big thing for us to be identified by the community as bodyguards of the datu’s [mayor’s] family. It may seem like nothing, but for us, it feels like it’s an honour for us too be close to the datu. It’s like we are leaning on a strong wall and we can be assured that whatever happens to us, there will be someone to defend us or someone to run to. It’s the same thing with them depending on us. I guess that’s how it is. I don’t know how else to say it.

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Invariably the kind of status that boys get for working in a powerful group and using weapons makes them more attractive to some girls. 86% of school youth polled3 in three senior secondary schools in Manenberg said girls are more attracted to gang members.4 For many, this serves and an added stimulus to join an armed group. As one community youth explained, “If you are in a gang you get girls easier.” In Kingston, Jamaica, for many adolescents growing up in poor Jamaican communities, notions of ‘manhood’ are tied to gaining respect, women and guns. As corner gangs and areas gangs in poor communities offer access to these, they become increasingly important as a way for young males to assert their masculinity. As August Town community activist Kenneth Wilson explained during interview, “[with] a shift in age, you see more early teens involved in gangs through the corners, just hanging out. They exert their manhood through certain types of behaviour. First through how you articulate yourself, through dancehall5 and the need to command respect, the number of girls, kids fathered and guns owned.” Spending time in the street, friendships and surrogate families: In Ecuador, all interviewees said they preferred being in the street with their nacion or pandilla than at home with their families. Interviewees in Colombia and El Salvador made similar comments. Problems at home often lead children and adolescents to spend more time in the street and, as discussed in ‘Stages of involvement’, many of the armed groups investigated have a strong and dominant presence there. As a result, friends made within a street setting may become a greater influence on children than family members, as peers more than family accompany growing children through adolescence. This is especially the case if family relations are problematic. In such situations, the norms of the street become of paramount importance as older ‘street’ males become a principal reference point. It is not surprising that children in such settings will seek extended kinship structures outside of the home, and some armed groups can act as surrogate families due to mutual support structures that exist within them. When accepted by armed groups many adolescents will identify strongly with group ideals, and this further strengthens a mutual bond. As a result, ‘friendship’ was cited by interviewees in all countries as a reason for joining an armed group, and friends were considered as ‘family’ by many. ...the family forgets about you, the gang no. pandillero, San Salvador

Children and adolescents may find surrogate fathers or older brother figures in older group members. In Kingston, Jamaica, and as noted by Gunst in her book Born fi Dead,6 3

The Institute for Security Studies administered a two-page yes-no/true-false questionnaire to 200 students on 6 October 2003 at three senior secondary schools in Manenberg: Manenberg, Silverstream, and Phoenix. A total of 72 males and 128 females completed the forms, including 29 sixteen year-olds, 67 seventeen year-olds, 64 eighteen year-olds, and 40 students of nineteen years or older. 4 88% of the boys and 84% of the girls polled in this survey stated that girls are more attracted to gang members than to non-gang members. 5 Community parties held in local dancehalls. 6 “Born Fi’ Dead: A Journey through the Jamaican Posse Underworld”. Author: Laurie Gunst. Henry Holt and Company, LLC, New York, New York, 1995.

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“in communities controlled by gangs, a don figure often becomes a substitute parent for young men and parents often leave socialisation of young boys to the don who takes young boys in training.” In the pandillas of El Salvador, the palabrero, the principal figure of authority within the group, may become a mentor or protective figure for younger pandilleros. In the CVOs this may be the role of the barangay captain. I’ve been living with the barangay captain since February 2000. I don’t know how it happened. I only used to sleep there sometimes until it became much more often. Now they have a room there just for me. The captain is very good to me. He treats me like I’m his eldest child. Member of a CVO, Maguindanao province, Philippines.

It must be noted, however, unlike most of the armed groups that began as youth street gangs, investigated armed groups in a number of countries did not maintain what could be considered as extended kinship ties or supportive ‘family’ structures. Interviewees from the drug factions in Rio de Janeiro, the paramilitaries in Medellin and the ethnic-militia and vigilante groups in Nigeria testified to the importance of friendships for joining their respective armed groups. However, they did not consider their groups as surrogate families, or maintain the ‘one for all and all for one’ mentality so prevalent in the maras, pandillas and naciones of El Salvador, Honduras and Ecuador. This may have been related to the fact that unlike these groups, groups in Medellin, Rio de Janeiro and Nigeria are more militarised and/or profitoriented and did not originate through processes of youth identity and socialisation. Identity: Although identifying with the group was not given by many respondents as a reason for joining, interviews do demonstrate that many respondents clearly felt strong links of identity with their fellow members. This tended to be stronger amongst respondents from youth maras, pandillas and street gangs where identity is defined by specific music, dress and culture. Respondents from groups that have a clearly defined ethnic, clan or racial identity also spoke of strong feelings of identity with the group. Public displays of identity by members of armed groups through dress, music or propagating ethnicity or clan allegiance can encourage feelings of wanting to ‘belong’ amongst children and youth growing up in settings where armed groups are a strong presence. Q. How old were you when you joined OPC? A. I was 16 years old. Q. What are the main reasons for your involvement in the OPC group? A. I think it is another way of identifying with my ethnic group, ‘Oodua’. Member of the OPC, southwest Nigeria

Protection: Joining and armed group for protection, whether real or perceived, was a common reason given by interviewees when asked why they joined. Children and youth may be associated with an armed group just by growing up in area where that group is active. As a result, some children run the risk of physical harm or even death if they stray into the ‘wrong’ area or encounter members of a rival group outside of their community. Such risks often push children and young people to join local armed groups in an attempt at pre-emptive protection. Although the reality is that children are at far more risk having joined an armed 83

group,7 the notion that they will be protected is often incentive enough to join. Threat of attack can encourage children to identify with the armed groups in their community, often seen as protectors, and lead to joining a gang for protection. Six of the eight gangsters interviewed in Manenberg, Cape Town, claimed to have joined their local street gang for defensive reasons, including: defence of the neighbourhood; being attacked as a gang member before even joining; being picked on at school; and because a gang member boyfriend had been killed by a rival gang. Gang members in Chicago and pandilleros in El Salvador expressed similar reasons for joining, as one pandillero explained, “If something happens to one person, it happens to all.” A female gang member in Jamaica told researchers that being in a gang offered security as when she left the community she was able to go with armed escorts. Due to her political affiliations with the PNP8 she believed that those linked to other political parties could be a threat to her. A female gang member in Chicago also felt that her gang offered her safety, Hey, I felt the safest joinin’ than bein’ by myself…because nobody gonna help me. I had to join somebody. Yet joining an armed group for protection is not always personal. Some interviewees expressed a desire to protect their families, communities or ethnicity by joining a group. …The threats and the security of the family. There were gangs in every corner and if one talked with someone, you were someone else’s enemy, so one had to join a particular gang because if you talked with someone in one corner and then with someone else in another corner, you would get shot. So I joined a gang and I had to drop out from school, but at that time I was already out. It was then when the problems and the threats began. My family’s economic situation depended on my work as vigilante [working for a banda]. I joined when I was 14, voluntarily, because I wanted to gain experience and because of the threats, because if they didn’t do anything to me they would do it to my family. Member of a banda delincuente, Medellin

Revenge: Revenge was cited by interviewees in almost all countries involved in this study as a reason for joining an armed group. In some cases interviewees wanted revenge due to having lost a family member. In the Philippines, one young member of a CVO felt that joining the group would give him the ability to avenge his father’s death. “I will avenge my father’s death. I am angry with the police. They killed my father.” Another respondent in Colombia saw joining an armed group as a way to avenge the deaths of his friends that had been killed by rival groups. I was 14 years old. What made me join a banda was seeing them [other groups] kill people I knew. I got angered and I wanted to do the same with a person that had killed a friend of mine. I saw a friend who got killed and that was awful. But many friends, as many as seven or eight, died in the confrontations. I joined voluntarily, the gang I belonged to didn’t force anyone, the ones who wanted got in. Stealing was also a motive, because I got money and had fun. Member of a banda delinquente, Medellin

Other interviewees spoke of joining an armed group as a means of getting revenge for the way their community was treated by the police or their ethnic group was treated by state forces. Nobody forced me; I went alone after noticing what they are doing to my people. Member of the Egbesu Boys who joined at 16 years of age, Niger Delta, Nigeria 7 8

See ‘Armed Violence’ People’s National Party (Jamaican political party)

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Risk factors, responses and influences All children and youth interviewed for this study said they had made an individual choice to join one of the armed groups investigated. No interviewees claimed to have been forced by a third party to join their group. Interestingly, in all of the reasons given by interviewees for joining, an external situation is met by a child or youth’s active response to that situation. For example, although not direct quotes, the following statements are representative of the reasons cited by interviewees for joining an armed group. The words in bold represent the external situation and the words in italics represent the response the child or youth is making to that situation. “I am from a poor family so I joined a street gang to get money.” “I couldn’t get a job so I joined a vigilante group to work.” “I was attacked so I joined a pandilla for protection.” “My father was killed so I joined a CVO to get revenge.” “I was beaten and humiliated so I joined a drug faction to get respect.” “There were problems at home so I joined a nacion to be with my friends.”

In all of these examples, joining an armed group gives a child or youth the ability to respond to an external situation that is out of his/her control. As demonstrated by the reasons interviewees gave for joining an armed group, there are a number of external situations that are common to all or most of the environments in which armed groups investigated are active. The kinds of responses to these external situations made possible by joining an armed group are also common to all or most of the armed groups investigated. Therefore, if an armed group exists within a given environment, there are a number of external situations, or risk factors, which make a child more likely to join that armed group. This is especially the case if a child is unable to make different responses to a particular risk factor due to having limited options. For example, if a child has problems at home but has no other relatives, family friends or supportive school teachers to turn to, he/she is more likely to respond to this risk factor by joining an armed group that offers a ‘surrogate family’ or support structure, such as a mara or pandilla. Or, if a child is attacked or wronged but is unable to turn to the police or another adult body for protection or justice, he/she is more likely to respond to this risk factor by joining an armed group that offers protection and/or the possibility of revenge, such as a street gang, drug faction or paramilitary. In addition to common risk factors, it is clear from interviews with children and youths in all countries that there are a number of external influences that also guide children’s decisions to join an armed group. These influences may be within the family, amongst friends and peers, or may even be more generalised influences at the level of community / society. In the case of the following gang member, an older figure was a key influence for him to ‘turn’.9 Um, okay, I got involved because, um, it was a guy that, like, influenced me to turn. I was goin’ to school, and I got, you know what I’m sayin’, like, um, my mom had a big family, and I couldn’t get the stuff that I needed, and he told me … know what I’m sayin’, this and that to sell drugs and I could take care of myself. So that’s how I be turnin’. Gang member, Chicago 9

Slang for ‘join a gang’.

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The following table outlines the primary risk factors that were identified in all or almost all environments covered by this study. The table also demonstrates the responses to these risk factors made possible to children and youths by joining an armed group. As noted above, the kinds of responses to risk factors made possible by joining an armed group are also common to all or most of the armed groups investigated. The following table also lists the external influences that were identified from interviews as common to all or most of the environments where children and youth were interviewed.

Table 2.1 External Risks and Influences

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The following diagram demonstrated how these external risk factors and influences are present at all or almost all levels of social experience for children in environments that may be considered as ‘high-risk’.

Diagram 2.2 Risk Factors and Influences in a High-risk Environment

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Understanding vulnerability by charting personal contexts Although the external risk factors and influences noted above are common to all or almost all of the high-risk environments dominated by armed groups investigate for this study, the majority of children and youth in high-risk environments do not respond to these risk factors by joining an armed group. Risk factors and influences affect all children in a similar way. However, not all children and youth respond to these risk factors and influences in the same way. Children and youth are individuals that actively make decisions but responses to risk factors will differ according to personal contexts. Personal contexts comprise of the relationships, influences and options that a child or young person may have within his/her immediate social circle that affect this decision making process. Within any one environment, there exist an infinite number of different personal contexts in which children grow up. Two brothers growing up in the same household may even have different personal contexts due to their differing relationships with their parents or having different peer groups. Depending on how they are made up, personal contexts may be more or less conducive to children and youth in high-risk environments joining an armed group. It is therefore possible to understand why some young people in a high-risk environment ‘choose’ to join a local armed group and others do not. The following diagram charts the responses to prevalent risk factors that could be made by a young person in a high-risk environment. As the diagram demonstrates, both options and influences play a key role in the decision making process of how to respond to environmental risk factors. In this case, due to limited options and certain types of influences, the personal context of the subject is more conducive to their joining an armed group. The following diagram therefore represents the kind of personal context that makes a young person living in a high-risk environment vulnerable to participating in organised armed violence. As noted earlier, there are an infinite number of personal contexts in any one environment. Despite these variations, however, it is possible to understand that a lack of options combined with the kinds of influences reported during interview are likely to make a child or youth more vulnerable to joining an armed group. The above diagram represents a hybrid of the kinds of responses that interviewees told researchers they made in reaction to local risk factors, and the kinds of influences that affected those responses. Understanding risk factors and the responses that children make to those risk factors by joining an armed group, as well as understanding that responses may be guided by external influences, helps us to understand why children ‘choose’ to join gangs, drug factions, maras and all of the other armed groups covered by this study. Children are often forced to make a choice when exposed to risk factors as risk factors naturally invoke responses. If a child’s possible responses are limited by having a lack of options, and susceptible to strong external influences, then joining an armed group may be more akin to choosing the best of limited options, rather than making a real ‘choice’. The notion of ‘voluntary recruitment’ is seriously flawed, therefore, not because children do not make valid individual choices, but because many of those that do ‘choose’ to join armed groups are growing up in vulnerable personal contexts within ‘high-risk’ environments. 88

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Diagram 2.3 Vulnerable Personal Context

Understanding resilience by charting personal contexts In order to understand what factors could make up the kind of personal contexts that are less conducive to participating in organised armed violence, interviews were held with five adolescents and youths of both sexes (two females and three males) who live in a favela community in Rio de Janeiro that is dominated by a heavily armed drug faction. Respondents were between 16 and 25 years of age. All respondents were participants of a community-based social project that offers employment, educational and sporting opportunities as well as psycho-social support to its members.10 At the time of interview none of the respondents was working for a drug faction, although one had previously been an armed employee but had made a conscious decision to leave the faction three years previously. Two of the group members had immediate family members involved in the drug trade and both had been on the periphery of drug trafficking at various points in their lives, for example holding or guarding fire-arms or drugs for involved family members. However, these two group members had never earned money from the drug faction and could not be considered as ever having been directly involved. Of the two female members, one had been involved in acts of petty crime during her early adolescence and had been arrested for theft on one occasion. The other female member of the group had never been involved in crime or organised violence of any kind. The group members were first asked to list what they considered to be the main problems and difficulties that they and other children and young people typically face growing up in their favela. The following list is in the order given during interview. • high levels of unemployment / low levels of education amongst youth leading to increased difficulties to enter the formal work market / salaries are not enough; • ‘unstructured’ families / child neglect; • not enough places at public school for school drop-outs trying to get back into school in their late teens / poor standard of teaching / local schools much worse than those in wealthy areas of the city; • high levels of violence in the family, school and the community / violence in the community due to police repression and conflict between rival drug factions / fear and tension; • social inequality / public services not the same as in other areas / suffer prejudice due to being from a favela. The difficulties and problems that these respondents listed are extremely similar to the problems cited by interviewed group members in Brazil and other countries as reasons for joining an armed group. Therefore, it may be suggested that both non-involved and involved young people growing up in high-risk environments face many of the same risk factors. In order to understand why facing these risk factors had not led these respondents to join an armed group, unlike their peers elsewhere, they were asked to talk about how they 10

The author decided not to reveal the name and location of this project in order to protect the respondents’ identities due to the sensitive nature of the interview.

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had coped with, or ‘responded’ to, these difficulties.11 Their answers are presented below by theme. Unemployment: All respondents had previously been unemployed but were currently in full time employment or a paid part-time work placement. Three of the respondents were employed through their participation in a social project that offers employment opportunities, and the other due to an internship opportunity through her school. The final respondent was unemployed; however, he was participating in a youth leadership course run by a non-governmental organisation that paid a fixed monthly fee. The respondent that had previously been a paid member of the local drug faction explained that he had left the faction without another job primarily due to the birth of his son, and the fact that he had wanted be alive long enough to be a father. The previous Christmas, however, under pressure to produce money for new clothes and presents for his family, this respondent had been offered work by the local faction to sell drugs during one weekend. Although tempted, he had chosen not to do so due to moral support from his wife and members of the social project. Three weeks later, he passed an interview for a work placement at the project, and is now a full-time staff member. Respondents commented that the primary problem for youths in regard to employment is a lack of access to the work market. All respondents were able to overcome this due to opportunities at school or through contact with social projects active in their community. The boys in the group commented that earning even a minimal salary allowed them to have some access to the kinds of consumer items (Nike shoes etc.) that were prized within the community and amongst their peers. ‘Unstructured families’: With the exception of one respondent, all respondents had suffered from problems at home such as: parents separating; death of a parent or immediate family member; father not present; violent stepfather; and poor relations with other family members. However, all respondents were able to cite a particular figure that they were able to turn to when things were bad at home. This included: a supportive mother; a surrogate mother figure living in the community; a sports coach; grand parents; and close friends. One respondent had even gone to live in the street at eight years of age due to problems at home until his grandparents had subsequently housed and raised him. Education: One respondent was not studying at the time of interview but was waiting to take her primary level exams. All other respondents were either studying or between educational courses at the time of interview. Three of the five respondents had dropped out of public school in their early adolescence and only returned to school recently due to assistance from a third party: one respondent had been helped by her sister to find a school place in another school district; the second had been helped by project staff to access a fast-track primary level education course; the third had returned to the local public school due to help and encouragement from project staff. 11

In the case of the one interviewee who had been a paid member of a drug faction, he was asked to explain why despite continuing to be affected by these risk factors he had decided to leave the drug faction.

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Violence: All of the respondents talked of having directly experienced violence and their testimonies were similar to those of respondents from armed groups. I was standing under a tree, they [the police] came over and said “you lost”12 but I had nothing to ‘lose’ so they put me on the floor, kicked me, stood on me […] then they said to my mother, “Senhora, leave here because today I’m going to kill your son” […] they [the police] confuse people with drug traffickers even though we have nothing to do with it.

Many respondents from armed groups said that suffering direct acts of violence had made them want to join an armed group for protection. Interestingly, these respondents noted that publicly disassociating from drug trafficking and crime was an important protective factor that could decrease their chances, if only minimally, of suffering police abuses within the community or violence from drug traffickers. This could be achieved by; having a peer group that wasn’t involved in drug trafficking or crime; or participating in a community-based social project. In the latter case, using a project T-shirt that was recognised by policemen, drug traffickers and community members served to separate them from any involvement in drug trafficking or crime and associated violence. Consequently, they would be viewed as unthreatening to these groups and less likely to suffer direct acts of violence from them. Publicly defining oneself as ‘non-involved’ through association with a non-involved peer group, therefore, was seen as an important protective factor. A significant number of respondents from armed groups said that suffering acts of violence had made them want to join an armed group for revenge. Those members of this respondent group that had suffered from violence were able to explain why this had not led them to seek revenge. In both cases, wanting to stay alive to support another family member was key to this decision. For example, when he was 16 years-old one respondent had witnessed his brother who was working for the local drug faction killed by the police. The subsequent death of his 18 year old cousin who was also involved in drug trafficking and killed by the police, made him want to distance himself from involvement in the drug trade because he decided he wanted to stay alive long enough to care for his younger brother. Following his cousin’s death, the respondent had told himself, “I will try to change, I’ll try to study, I’ll try to get a job so that I can support and always be present in my brother’s life…if my cousin was still alive today, certainly you’d never have met me because I would have ended up the same.” What seems important as a protection factor here, is a self-perceived notion that there is a reason to stay alive; in this case in order to support a loved one in need. Social inequality: Feelings of discrimination due to where they were from were common to all respondents. “I went to a job interview in a noble [non-favela] part of the city and I wasn’t chosen when they found out I was from a favela […] they thought I’d do something bad.” Discrimination and suffering social inequality was one of the problems faced by respondents that they found most difficult to explain or see how they could overcome. Being part of a recognised and respected peer group, defining oneself as ‘non-involved’, being employed and having self-knowledge and self-respect were all discussed by respondents as possible 12

In Rio de Janeiro, ‘perdeu’, or ‘you lost’, is a phrase often used by muggers or armed robbers to their victims.

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ways to overcome the social and economic exclusion they face. Respondents did suggest that they could decrease the risk of being treated in a discriminatory manner by the way they presented themselves. However, they agreed that this was extremely limited and said that they would not be able to overcome inequality as long as Brazilian society continued to discriminate against favela residents. **** The above interviews cannot be considered as representative of all children and youths living in the diversity of high-risk environments dominated by the armed groups investigated. However, they do demonstrate that: 1) The types of external risk factors (referred to as problems or difficulties) that these respondents have to face daily are almost identical to those given by interviewed children and youths in ten countries (including Brazil) as reasons for becoming involved in organised armed violence; 2) These non-involved respondents were able to express how they coped with, or responded to, these risk factors without joining or continuing to be part of the local drug faction. When doing this, they were able to cite other options they had been offered or found themselves, and people that influenced their lives and were crucial to this decision-making process. Interestingly, respondents participating in armed groups in the ten countries involved in this study were also able to cite influences that were important factors in their decision to join an armed group, especially the involvement of friends and family.13 However, in almost all cases, they consistently reported having few options, other than joining an armed group, to respond to risk factors prevalent to their communities. Undoubtedly, a larger survey of non-involved young people living in high-risk environments around the world is needed for more substantive evidence. However, the above comparison does suggest that what separates vulnerability and resilience amongst children and youth in high-risk environments is a combination of access to options and different types of influences. Based on information given by both involved and non-involved respondents, the following diagram charts the possible trajectories of two young people growing up in the same high-risk environment. Both face the same risk factors and share a number of external influences. However, one of the subjects has more options than the other and both have different influences within their immediate social circle. As demonstrated in the above diagram, children and youth in high-risk environments are more vulnerable to joining local armed groups when their personal contexts offer few options to respond to risk factors, and are susceptible to influences that encourage them to join. As also demonstrated in the above diagram, children and youth in high-risk environments are more resilient to joining local armed groups when their personal contexts offer varied 13

See ‘Process of involvement’.

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94 Diagram 2.4 Resilient versus Vulnerable Personal Context

options to respond to risk factors, and they are less susceptible to influences that encourage them to join, usually due to the presence of stronger and more supportive influences. As noted earlier, there are infinite possible variations of personal contexts within any environment. However, if we are able to plot the kind of personal contexts in which children and youth in the same high-risk environment are more or less resilient to joining an armed group, then it is possible to design interventions that will positively affect children’s personal contexts, thus making them more resilient. Of course, to truly treat the problem of children and youth in organised armed violence it is necessary to eliminate the external risk factors that are causal or contributory to both the existence of armed groups, and those situations in which children ‘choose’ to join them. Although imperative, eradicating these risk factors is a lengthy and complex process and a serious challenge for governments and organised civil society alike. In the short term, armed groups will continue to exist and it is inevitable that children and youths will continue face the kind of risk factors and influences that make their involvement more likely. To treat this problem now, therefore, in addition to macro programmes that seek to eradicate structural problems, there is a need for local interventions that make children and youth more resilient and less vulnerable to involvement. How to boost resilience in practice is discussed in ‘Building resilience through prevention and rehabilitation interventions’.

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THE WORKING FUNCTIONS OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN ORGANISED ARMED VIOLENCE This chapter looks at the working and participatory functions children and youth typically fulfil within the armed groups investigated. In doing so, the subordinate position of children and youth to adults within the command structures utilised by these groups is discussed, as are rules and punishments, identified common themes relating to notions of age, adulthood and ability, and how minors and youths are remunerated for services. Subordinate roles and following orders When starting the gradual process of involvement,1 children and youth tend to find themselves at the bottom of any existing command structure or hierarchical scale that may exist within armed groups. Invariably, those in decision-making or high-ranking positions are adults or older youths (18-25 years) and consequently children and youth members remain subordinate to adults. For some pandillas in El Salvador, the principal figure of authority over all members of a clika2 is the adult palabrero, and his authoritative relationship with child and youth members begins even before their full entry into the gang. One interviewed pandillero described the favours he carried out for the palabrero whilst still in the transitory phase of ‘vacilando’: “…sometimes I ran errands, going to Burger King and things. If they told us to, we did it.” In the naciones of Ecuador, jefes de celulas, or local cell leaders, are responsible for overseeing and controlling the actions of local cells where younger members, especially minors, are found. Although often not more than older youths themselves, local cell leaders must be obeyed by those within their cell, and they themselves are subordinate to the lider maximo and consejo consultivo of their nacion. The junior or shorty cliques in some of Chicago’s institutionalised street gangs are controlled by a youth coordinator that reports to and takes directives from adult members of the gang, sometimes known as ‘OGs’, or ‘Original Gangsters’. And in South Africa adult gangsters order teenage gang members to precede them into armed confrontations with rival gangs. Regardless of the type of command structure utilised, interviewed members from all groups investigated said that within their group direct orders given by superiors have to be followed. As one youth CVO member explained, “Our job is just to do as we are told. We also don’t know why. They don’t tell us and no one’s brave enough to ask”. In Rio de Janeiro, child drug faction workers are also explicitly aware of their subordinate position. As a 14 year-old member of the Comando Vermelho explained, “We are soldiers and the boss is our captain.” The following teenage respondent from the OPC was also very clear that orders must be followed. “Gani is our ‘Alaye Baba’ (Godfather) and mostly the brains behind every major activity of the group; since he is directly in charge of the militant youths’ wing, nobody dare disobey him.” As discussed in the following section, the reason child and youth

1 2

See ‘Process of involvement’. Local branch or neighbourhood grouping within a larger pandilla such as Mara Salvatrucha or Barrio 18.

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members seem so adamant about following orders may be due to a variety of punishments (including the death penalty) that investigated groups utilise in cases of disobedience. Rules and punishments All groups investigated rely upon a system of in-group rules for members. Rules tend to be known by members rather than written,3 and although they vary by group, in most cases they revolve around internal discipline, working functions and in some cases, especially amongst the youth gangs in Latin America, having a clear and defined identity. In the naciones of Ecuador, for example, rules cited by members interviewed included: presence and punctuality at group meetings; completion of orders given by superiors; respect and defence of group symbols and colours; unconditional help given to other group members; and to always be ready when called upon by the leader. In El Salvador, pandilleros reported that although it was considered acceptable to smoke marijuana, there was an ingroup rule in some pandillas prohibiting the smoking of crack cocaine. In Rio de Janeiro’s drug factions, rules tend to be related to maintaining group functionality and control of the drug trade. This means being armed to protect faction territory, following orders, never informing to the police and not stealing money or drugs when working. It also means regulating behaviour and not threatening or gratuitously harming community residents, as the importance of community support is seen by factions as paramount to maintaining control of a favela territory.4 These rules are followed by faction members on punishment of death. When an adult drug trafficker in Rio de Janeiro was asked if he had ever killed before, and if so why, he replied: Yes, I’ve already killed. Within the context of drug trafficking. Circumstances in which I couldn’t mess up either because if I had, I would have been killed too [...] The majority of times within trafficking it’s that people inform to the police, or a vapor5 steals drugs. There are some things that you can’t ignore because they’ve been done various times. Once or twice, that’s something, lots of times, that’s something else. [...] We have a rule that you have to be armed [...but] we have to be very careful not to hurt anyone. [...] If we accidentally hurt someone, we pay with our lives. If you hurt a community resident, shoot someone, you’ll pay with your life.

All armed groups investigated maintain internal rules through punishments. Like internal rules for members, punishments vary by group. However, in most groups investigated children and youth members are subject to the same punishments as adult members. Q: To be killed [after breaking a rule], if it’s a youth, if it’s a boy or a child, does it make any difference? A: No it doesn’t. 22 year old member of the Comando Vermelho, Rio de Janeiro 3

There are exceptions to this. Groups in Nigeria such as the OPC have a written ‘Code of Conduct’ in a printed manual, and the Bakassi Boys also have written rules. The Comando Vermelho also had a written code of conduct when they were established in the late 1970s based on the ’12 Rules of a Good Criminal’ (see Amorim, Carlos, Comando Vermelho: a historia secreta do crime organizado, 5th Edition, Record, Rio de Janeiro, 1995). 4 Dowdney, 2003:53-72 5 Street level drug dealer.

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In the Philippines, interviewees only reported being verbally scolded by superiors for making mistakes. However, as two youth CVO interviewees had been present when their CVO had tortured and murdered three teenagers suspected of killing members of the ruling pagali, it is probable that in extreme cases minors working for CVOs could suffer execution or physical punishment for failing to follow the rules or disobeying orders. Interviewed members of all other groups spoke openly of physical punishments that were commonplace for disobedience or breaking an in-group rule. There follows a list of punishments that were reported to researchers during this study. Increase in working duties and house arrest: ...it depends on the problems. The boss doesn’t hit but lets them hit each other with sticks, or he may call their attention and put them to work out, or duplicate their work shift; for example, if someone is on guard duty from 6 to 12, they will have to work from 6 to 6, […] other punishments include being beaten with a stick, or prohibiting them to leave home for 2 months. 15 year old member of a paramilitary group, Medellin

Incarceration: The OPC and the Bakassi Boys have prisons where apprehended criminals may be detained. Prisons may also be used for disobedient Bakassi Boys themselves. “…abuse of firearms will lead to some days in our cell and summarily dismissal from the group.” Physical beatings: Interviewees from Cape Town’s coloured street gangs reported that they would be beaten in front of other gang members if they failed to visit gang leaders in prison or go to weekly gang meetings on Sundays. Pandilleros from Ecuador and El Salvador also reported that physical beatings could be used as a disciplinary action within their groups. In Nigeria, members of the OPC’s militant wing known as Eso told researchers that physical punishments would be given to those who failed to follow orders from superiors. When asked what would happen if he failed to follow orders, a 17 year-old Egbesu Boy replied, “That is a serious offence that can lead to serious punishment like expulsion or physical beating.” Torture: The torture of fellow group members, rivals and civilians considered to be guilty of an infraction is used by a number of armed groups investigated. The following testimony was given by a youth member of a CVO in the Philippines who participated in the torture, and then witnessed the killing by fellow members, of three teenage murder suspects. They told us to put salt in his [one of the teenagers’] wounds. They were too much. They cut parts of his body with a chainsaw while he was still alive. He kept screaming because of the pain but even if we were forcing him to admit, he kept insisting that he didn’t know anything. That was painful for me to see.

Expulsion from the community: Interviewed drug faction workers in Rio de Janeiro reported expulsion from the community as a standard punishment for faction members and community residents that disobey orders. This punishment tended to be reserved for those offences that were considered as too serious for the perpetrator to receive a beating, but not sufficiently serious for execution. Interviewees in Medellin also reported expulsion of group members and entire families from comunas under the domain of paramilitary groups, bandas and narcotraficantes. 98

Death penalty: The death penalty, the ultimate punishment for group members disobeying orders or breaking in-group rules, was commonly reported by interviewees and present in all investigated groups with the exception of the pandillas in Ecuador. The worst thing is to tell what the group is planning to do to another group; the punishment in those cases is death. 15 year-old member of a paramilitary group, Medellin

Within the drug factions of Rio de Janeiro killing fellow group members for breaking an in-group rule is commonplace. Minors are often sent by superiors to kill colleagues guilty of such behaviour. Q. If a person receives a ‘carga’6 and doesn’t pay for it afterwards, what happens? A. Ah, if he steals a ‘carga’ then he dies or gets a beating, depends on the boss. If the boss says that he should die, he dies. Q. Who kills him? A. We do. We shoot him ourselves. We’re already all bad. I: Have you already killed anyone? T: Yeah, I’ve already killed a few. 16 year-old soldado, Comando Vermelho

Rules for the protection of children within armed groups Despite the fact that children face similar punishments to adults in the groups investigated, and possibly as a reflection of the trend in decreasing ages of group members,7 some US street gangs and CVOs in the Philippines have instituted rules to protect their youngest members. CVOs acting as private armies for the local mayors or other important figures tend to stop younger members from becoming involved in malalaking lakad, a phrase used to refer to their more dangerous illegal activities. Some of older members of institutionalised street gangs in Chicago place importance on education and some gangs even have rules to pressure junior members to stay in school. These are not always effective, however, and seem to be at odds with employing junior members in the drug trade. Some gangs even have restrictions on gun use by junior members. The 12-16 [year old age group], they participate, but they don’t play no role in the shooting, they participate on some fighting activities, but they don’t be having no guns like that…the coordinator and the assistant coordinator, they’re the oldest anyway…so they might have a gun. So, there is a chance of a 16 year-old having a gun. Gang member, Chicago

Although this is not the case for all street gangs in Chicago,8 the above quote does demonstrate a logic common to all of the armed groups investigated for this study: that it 6

‘Cargas’, or cargos, are given to street-based dealers in the favela by superiors in the drug faction. ‘Cargas’ are paid for by dealers after having been sold and not on delivery. Therefore, on receiving a ‘carga’ a child or youth dealer is immediately in debt to a superior, and failure to pay in full may result in physical punishment and even execution. 7 discussed in ‘Process of recruitment’ 8 Some of Chicago’s street gangs are known to have armed junior members as young as twelve; see Hagedorn., John M, “Institutionalised Gangs and Violence in Chicago” (2005), University of Illinois-Chicago, Great Cities Institute, at www.coav.org.br.

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is acceptable to arm some adolescents. Criteria for determining which adolescents can be armed is also shared by the groups investigated. In most cases this is based on when childhood is perceived to be over and adulthood beginning. As explained below, this does not depend on a numerical age, but rather on other factors, such as cultural understanding of adulthood or a young person’s ability to work effectively or use a firearm. Notions of age, adulthood and ability In Jamaica, community youth from Craig Town said that they wouldn’t like to see 12 year-olds armed and in gangs and would do all they could to prevent children of this age from joining. However, they thought it acceptable for 14 year-olds to be armed and in gangs as by this age they are considered “man nuff ”. The view that leaving childhood was an acceptable criterion for armed groups to arm and benefit from the labour of under eighteen year-olds was held by the majority of the groups investigated. For example, Maguindanao in the Philippines is a majority Muslim province where Islamic belief states that adulthood begins at the onset of puberty, usually between 13-15 years of age. In Maguindanao many children are given a gun by their father at puberty for defence of the family and community. Such cultural norms mean that the arming of minors in CVOs in Maguindanao province is not seen as abnormal by many. In other settings groups do not base the concept of childhood on a specific age, instead referring to a young person’s ability to use a weapon as the primary criterion for entering adulthood. When asked if children were given guns in the Egbesu Boys, an adult member replied, “Ah! Immediately you started carrying gun, you are no longer a child, you are now an adult”. In some situations the necessity to have armed workers means that notions of childhood (children being a traditionally protected group in most societies) are not considered at all. When asked if gang leaders were reluctant to see kids with guns, a member of the Black Gangster Disciples explained They don’t think like that. They think, like, shit, you a part of this. If something goes down, you got to ride,9 that’s how it is. That’s how I was looking at it. Shit, something go down, you ready to ride with them, cause if you don’t ride with them, then we’re going to ride on your ass. You ain’t had no other choice, but to ride with them.

In South Africa the involvement of minors in activities traditionally reserved for adults, such as serious crimes and firearm usage, was not related to entering adulthood. Instead, interviewed gang members judged a minor’s ability to do the job as the most important criterion. In Manenberg’s street gangs, no jobs are prohibited to young adolescents that show they have the correct skills. In Rio de Janeiro, ability is also seen as paramount. As one drug trafficker in Rio explained …sometimes a minor has more ability than an adult, than an old person. We think not...but looks can be deceiving. But I’m also not telling you that [a minor] is as capable as some of the others, as the best, but once involved, from the moment he’s there he’s a criminal. Be it a minor or an adult, he’s a criminal. 9

In this case to ride means to participate in gang activity, in this case the respondent was referring explicitly to the use of firearms in gang confrontations.

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Similarly for this Unknown Vice Lord in Chicago, when it comes to selling drugs, ability counts more than age. It didn’t depend on your age, it depended on how smart you is. Certain people built for certain stuff. Certain people can’t hold their own drugs apart. Their minds were just not built for that. Some people were made for looking out, some people made for cooking10, certain things certain people do, they know what to do. […] It don’t go by no age, it goes by your knowledge.

Working functions Despite differences in specific functions, one factor that unifies all child and youth interviewees in this study is being utilised for armed activities. However, as joining an armed group is usually a slow rather than immediate process, children and youth are typically armed only when full membership is acquired and often fulfil non-armed functions beforehand. Non-armed functions reported during interview include: Look-outs: One of the most common non-armed functions carried out by minors in the investigated groups is that of look-out. As a typical part of any street scene, children are ideal for keeping look-out from street corners to warn nearby colleagues of imminent danger. Known as olheiros or fogueteiros in Rio de Janeiro, children are used as look-outs by favela-based drug factions to warn fellow traffickers of police or rival faction entrance into the community. Warnings are given via radio or by letting off fireworks. This is generally the first working position in the drug faction hierarchy.11 Interviewees from Medellin’s bandas delincuentes, Chicago’s street gangs and Kingston’s area gangs also reported use of children as street corner look-outs to protect drug sales or territory. In the Philippines, interviewees reported the use of children as look-outs during criminal operations such as kidnappings. For example, if we have plans to kidnap someone, we sometimes bring them [minors] along to be lookouts. They pretend they’re not part of our group. Even if it’s just a small role in the operation, it still helps a lot in making sure the plan goes well. CVO member, Maguindanao province,Philippines

Informants and spies: Interviewed Bakassi Boys reported the use of adolescent informants as part of their recruitment process. Minors also reported being used for spying activities by the Egbesu Boys in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. In the naciones of Ecuador, new members undergoing a trial period may be used to gather information on rival groups and police movements. Carrying, cleaning or guarding firearms and munitions: This may also be considered as a ‘non-armed’ function as minors given weapons to safeguard, carry or clean may not be expected to use them. In the Philippines, children working for CVOs reported cleaning firearms under the supervision of the barangay captain or head of the pagali. In Chicago, 10 11

Slang for the small scale preparation of crack cocaine. Dowdney 2003:139-140.

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institutionalised street gangs reportedly use school-age children to safeguard guns at school for older gang members. Q. So, you would come with the guns and give them to the older guys... A. No, I would just keep them on us, we’d keep them on us, because they was like, you’re still young, we’re going to end up in the county jail, but you’d just go to the juvenile thing so that was the chances we were taking at that time. That’s when I got to hold my first gun, when I was twelve years old.

Female gang members in Chicago also reported being given weapons to hold by male gang members. A former gang member in August Town, Jamaica, who joined his gang at 11 years-old had a similar function, “when guns were introduced into the gang I was in charge of locking the guns.”12 Children in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas are commonly seen carrying weapons and ammunition on behalf of older traffickers. There is great kudos amongst young adolescents within favela communities in carrying a trafficker’s weapon, and this is generally one of the acts that demonstrates a child’s increasing involvement with the group before official entry. Supportive roles: There are a number of supportive roles that children of both sexes carry out for the types of organised armed groups investigated here. For example, whilst still ‘vacilando’, children in El Salvador may be sent to run errands for the pandilla’s palabrero. Investigated groups in Brazil and Colombia use children and women to transport drugs within urban centres. In the Philippines, young CVOs members may be expected to fulfil household chores for the head of the pagali. On full entry to the group most interviewed children became armed immediately or shortly thereafter.13 Armed functions that were reported during interview included: Bodyguard / protective escort: In the Philippines minors are given weapons by their CVOs to protect important politicians or members of the pagali, as a youth CVO member explains, “We’re bodyguards for their family, for their children. If one of the children wants to go out, they just tell the captain and he gets to pick which one of us will be the one to go with them.” In Rio de Janeiro, there exists a specific post known as a fiel, or ‘faithful’, for teenage boys chosen to act as personal armed security guards to managerial level traffickers within the favela.14 …I used to hang around with the gerente,15 and he started to give me cargas and I sold them. Now I don’t sell anymore. Now I hang around with him [only]. I do whatever he needs, I’m his fiel...I stay with the boss. 16 year-old fiel, Rio de Janeiro

In Ecuador’s naciones, the guardaespalda is a permanently armed group of members that is responsible for the security of the lider maximo and the jefes de celulas. Naciones investigated for this study use minors in this protective role. In Nigeria, researchers for this study witnessed 12

To ‘lock’ guns is Jamaican Patois for ‘looking after’ them. This is not always the case with youth gangs such as the pandillas and naciones of El Salvador and Ecuador that also have non-armed group members. 14 Dowdney 2003:142-143 15 Other than the dono, or ‘boss’, the gerente geral or ‘general manager’ is the highest-ranked faction worker in the favela and is responsible for overseeing all faction related activities. 13

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under 18 year-olds parading as Gani Adam’s16 bodyguards during a field visit to the OPC office in Lagos. The majority of these minors were form the Eso, the OPC’s militant wing. Guarding territory and property: In addition to guarding people, minors are also involved in guarding territory and property. Child and youth members of all investigated groups participate in the armed protection of their group’s territories or the neighbourhoods they dominate. Armed territorial defence can begin at an early age. Q. When did you first fire a gun? A. When I was thirteen. Q. What was that, what happened then? A. Somebody came into our neighborhood, I was already a SD. And somebody had come into our neighborhood trying to shoot at us, but they didn’t see us and somebody told us, “You can still catch them out on the street, on Chicago Avenue.” So, we ran and we had a shoot out right on Chicago Avenue. That was my first time I ever shot a gun.

In Rio de Janeiro drug factions are increasingly using armed minors to defend dominated favelas against invasion from rival factions or the police.17 In Jamaica youth members of both area and corner gangs may be referred to as ‘soldiers’ or ‘gunmen’ during times of political or turf18 ‘war’. During such times they’ll be expected to defend community territory with group or personal firearms. Some CVO members in the Philippines reported that their duties included guarding the mayor’s estates and another said that part of his job was to guard a marijuana plantation which he also believed was owned by the mayor. Interviewed local residents in Lagos claimed that the OPC are hired to provide security arrangements at private and government residences. Armed patrols: For a number of the armed groups investigated in the study, guarding group territory involves military style patrols. Groups investigated in the Philippines, Colombia, Nigeria and Brazil carry out openly armed patrols of their territories, in which minors participate. Photograph 2.2 – Armed CVO members, Philippines / 2004 This photograph was taken by the local contact of a field researcher who chanced upon a group of CVO members patrolling the neighbourhood that evening. There were seven CVO members in the group, but only four consented to being photographed, two of whom are seen here. 16

Militant faction leader from the OPC. Dowdney 2003:159-163. 18 Criminally-oriented disputes between gangs for the control of territory. 17

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Residents interviewed by researchers in Lagos stated that the OPC’s vigilante role was well established there. Interviewees said the OPC maintain an active presence both during the daytime and at night, patrolling the streets in groups of up to thirty and maintaining security in the local communities by openly carrying rifles, pistols and knives. In Maguidanao province CVO members, including minors, conduct openly armed night patrols and according to interviewees they maintain a nightly curfew for local residents in some areas (usually between 9pm and early morning). Night time curfews for local residents are also maintained by drug traffickers in Rio de Janeiro, usually during times of conflict with rival factions. Similar to CVOs in the Philippines, curfews in Rio’s favelas are maintained via highly armed traffickers patrolling in groups known as bondes.19 The following testimony is from a 15 year old member of a Colombian paramilitary group that controls one of Medellin’s poor neighbourhoods. This adolescent has clearly defined working hours for being on armed guard duty within the community. When you have to watch during the night you stay from 11pm to 5am …you stay on guard until 6am; you stay and chat a little with the person who is [next] on guard and then you leave. There’s someone who brings breakfast and lunch. Breakfast at 8, lunch at 12 and dinner at 6. I leave at 2, either I hang out there or go to sleep for a while, or walk.

Manning tolls or checkpoints: During interview, CVO members from the Philippines said they were responsible for manning checkpoints in order to collect tolls from passing civilian motorists. We also have a CVO outpost that we guard. Actually, we have many outposts but all CVOs must do duty in one [particular] outpost. There, we collect twenty pesos from every vehicle that passes through. Ten pesos for the tricycles. This happens everyday, that’s why we have to rotate our duties every week. In Nigeria, adolescents working for the OPC are also involved in collecting tolls from local residents, sometimes forcefully. A commercial bus driver in Lagos explained, “OPC boys between 16 and 20 years old collect twenty or fifty naira [US$ 0.2-0.5] from commercial bus drivers at every bus stop before allowing people to go.” Drug dealing and involvement in other crimes: As nine out of the ten armed groups investigated are involved in the drug trade, drug dealing was the most common use of child labour encountered during this study. With the exception of ethnic-militia and vigilante groups in Nigeria and CVOs in the Philippines, all armed groups investigated utilised minors in street based drug sales. Invariably, street drug sales involve being armed or being supported by armed colleagues as rivals in the drug trade rarely work unarmed. So, basically, it was over the money, then you want control…Because they was making a lot money off blows and we was making money off of coke20 and we was splitting the weed money. And it wasn’t going to work. Everybody wanted it all. That’s how the wars started off. gang member, Chicago 19

Dowdney 2003:258. In this testimony, ‘blows’ may be being used to mean powder cocaine, and ‘coke’ to mean crack cocaine. However, these words may be used interchangeably, in which case ‘blows’ could refer to crack cocaine and ‘coke’ to powder cocaine.

20

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In addition to drug trafficking, respondents also reported involvement in other criminal acts. In the Philippines youth CVO members spoke of looting civilian homes during times of conflict, or creating chaos by firing their guns so that houses could be ransacked when residents fled. There are many things…rice…animals…things in the homes left behind by the civilians. Sometimes, all it takes is a few minutes of shooting. When the residents are far away, everyone starts stealing for himself. Member of a CVO, Maguindanao province, Philippines.

In South Africa, gang members reported that they were lent guns by their gang in order to carry out robberies and other crimes outside of gang territory. Similarly, pandilleros reported using group guns to carry out crimes such as robbery. In Medellin, some teenage interviewees reported that their bandas delincuentes allowed them to carry out individual criminal acts as long as they did not ‘exceed the limit’ of what was considered acceptable. The extortion money is for firearms and ammunition and we share what we steal. We can do some other things but we can’t exceed the limit; certain types of robberies can’t get too big. I robbed inside and outside the neighbourhood. When I robbed inside I had to tell everyone, when it was outside it didn’t matter, we didn’t have to tell anyone, not even to the boss. Member of a banda delincuente, Medellin

Assassin: As discussed more thoroughly in ‘Armed violence’, with the exception of pandillas in Ecuador, minors and youths are regularly used by all investigated armed groups to kill. In South Africa, gang members refer to themselves as laksman, or ‘hit men’, and upcoming teenage gang members are expected to prove themselves by killing during ‘battle’ with rival gangs. In El Salvador, pandillas send minors on misiones, or ‘missions’, which may include taking another’s life. Q: How old were you when you first killed? A: Maybe, four months after entering the gang. Q: From what age? A: Thirteen...they sent me on a mission pandillero, El Salvador

Armed confrontations: As a result of participating in the above-noted armed functions and being used for invading rival group territory, children and youth in organised armed groups become routinely involved in acts of armed violence and armed confrontations. This is discussed in the following chapter. Payment All investigated groups are a potential source of income for group members. Minors are no exception to this and do receive payments for the types of services outlined above. Apart from commission-based drug sales in which children and youths are often equally or more effective than adults, minors tend to receive less than their older colleagues when being remunerated for a service. Despite a common misconception amongst ‘outsiders’ that working for such groups means earning a lot of money, investigated armed groups that pay fixed salaries tend to pay relatively little. For example, interviewed child and youth members of the CVOs in the Philippines tend to receive inferior payments to adult members and those interviewed 105

claimed that their salaries could only be considered as ‘just enough’. Furthermore, payments may be sporadic as opposed to regular and are often paid only after a ‘big job’, such as a kidnapping or robbery, was successful. Of course, the family [of the kidnap victim] will pay. Sometimes it’s in millions, sometimes just a few hundred thousands. The money goes to all of us. Everyone has a share. Of course, the mayor gets the bigger share. I don’t know about the others, but I remember the mayor gave me 5,000 pesos21. Member of a CVO Maguindanao, Philippines

What was clear from interviews in all countries is that although children and youth may be able to access more money through belonging to an armed group than their noninvolved peers, they are undoubtedly cheap labour for the adults they work for. As with any capitalist business, the real money stays at the top. As one member of South African street gang clearly states, “…it is the big guys that bring in the money.” Hard Livings in Cape Town claimed they are paid up to R100022 a month when their services are needed for armed confrontations during times of gang ‘warfare’. When the Hard Livings are not at ‘war’, however, they do not receive any income from the gang. Although left to their own devices during times of ‘peace’, the gang does provide logistical support if gang members are industrious enough to set up criminal activities of their own. It is not unusual for an armed group to employ different methods of payment concurrently. For example, drug faction workers in Rio de Janeiro that guard territory and personnel, are paid a fixed monthly salary, whereas those responsible for street drug sales, known as vapors, earn on a commission basis. Investigated armed groups pay their members via one or a number of the following methods. Fixed salaries: Diverse types of groups investigated for this study pay minors fixed salaries. This includes: favela-based drug factions in Rio de Janeiro, paramilitaries in Medellin, ethnic-militia and vigilante groups in Nigeria, CVOs in the Philippines23 and institutionalised street gangs in South Africa. Although all of these groups also pay minors for services in a variety of ways, fixed salaries tend to be primarily paid for armed services such as security, defence of territory/property, armed patrols (vigilantism/territorial defence), and the carrying out of executions. Commission based payment: As most investigated groups are involved in illegal drug sales, this was the most common method of payment amongst interviewees. In some groups, such as the street gangs in Chicago or the drug factions in Rio de Janeiro, individuals earn a commission on their daily sales. In other groups, such as some pandillas in El Salvador, all profit from street drug sales goes first to the palabrero, and is then either divided amongst members or used for the good of the group. You have to do what you are ordered. For example: charge, sell, deal with things inside the gang…in the gang…rob, kill, you figure it out. Sometimes I would get a mission, paid, and with that money 21

US$1 equivalent to PhP 55.5 (January 2005). Around US$ 165 (at January 2005 exchange rates). 23 In the majority of cases respondents working for CVO’s did not receive fixed salaries; the one respondent that did receive a fixed salary worked directly for the mayor and his father had previously worked for the CVO before being killed. 22

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I would buy clothes, and things I like: marijuana, alcohol; the things that people are most interested in. Sometimes the family doesn’t agree with what you’re doing and they won’t accept your money. So, you work to live well. 17 year old member of a banda delincuente, Medellin

Per operation/criminal act: Involvement in a particular money-making operation may lead to one-off payments. Although most of the child and youth interviewees from the Philippines receive minimal salaries, they did report that additional payments were possible if their CVO was involved in successful operations, such as a kidnapping. It’s already considered a lot if the councillor gives us 100 pesos. It’s all right because at least we can buy cigarettes with it. But this is not our salary. It’s like a small gift from the councillor. Youth member of a CVO, Maguindanao province, Philippines.

Child informants working for the Egbesu Boys also spoke of being paid when a group kidnapping is successful. Q. Do they pay you for being a spy? A. Yes, big money on a good day. Q. When is a good day? A. A good day is when an oil company pays for the release of their kidnapped staff.

Respondents from the corner gangs in Kingston also spoke of one-off payments related to criminal activities rather than regular salaries, “…this function [looking after the gang’s firearms] came with the introduction of the guns in the gang. The gang did not pay me, but when we go on a robbery we share up what was gained.” Token gifts: Giving gifts to children on the periphery or in the process of joining the group in return for small jobs or favours is a practice used by most of the investigated groups involved in street based drug dealing. Children used as look-outs or informants are often remunerated with brand clothes or sneakers, food or even one-off cash payments. Logistical support to carry out crime: Offering weapons and other logistical support for gang members to carry out crimes, usually outside of group territory, is a very prevalent practice amongst many of the investigated groups, especially those involved in street-based drug sales. **** In summary, although investigated groups are diverse in type and purpose, minors and youths are subordinate to adults in all of them. All investigated groups have a system of in-group rules upheld through punishments including, in almost all cases, the death penalty. Notions of childhood in most of the investigated groups seem flexible due to being based on cultural norms or working ability rather than a specific age. As a result, whether carrying out armed or non-armed functions, minors and youths tend to fulfil the same dayto-day operational activities as their adult counterparts. When it comes to being paid, however, in most cases traditional notions of childhood remain and minors and youths invariably earn considerably less than elder members. The following comparative table charts the types of payment, punishments and working functions of minors and youths in the investigated armed groups. 107

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Table 2.2 The Working Functions of Children and Youth in Organised Armed Groups

CHILDREN, YOUTH AND ARMED VIOLENCE As discussed in Part I, investigated groups participate in the following kinds of armed disputes: • Territorial (symbolic, practical and economic including drug dealing); • Rivalry (self-definition, ideals, ethnicity, clan-alliances or group principles); • Vigilantism and summary executions; • Against state forces (police or army); • Internal disputes (such as the emergence of renegade factions); Within the context of these disputes, carrying out criminal activities and upholding internal discipline in the group or ‘social ordering’ within the community, all armed groups investigated in this study arm minors.

Photograph 2.3 – Armed pandilleros, Honduras (2) / Jha Ja 2004. As demonstrated in these photographs taken by fellow group members, pandilleros are aware of the dangers inherent in the mara lifestyle and the fact that a violent death is a very possible outcome.

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The age that minors become armed As discussed in ‘Process of involvement’, the average age that interviewees joined their respective groups is 13 years and six months. The majority of interviewees were armed immediately upon joining their group or soon after. Correspondingly, the majority of interviewees in all countries except Nigeria and Jamaica1 spoke of using a gun for the first time between 12 and 14 years of age. I used them [guns] for the first time when I was 12, but I’ve known them since I was 8; changones, repeat rifles of 10, 8, 12, 3.2 [calibre].2 Youth member of a banda delincuente, Medellin I was 13 years old when they gave me a test for entering the group. They told me to give a gun to a guy leaving school...When I left the school some [rival] gang members began to follow me and I tried to lose them, they followed me and I had no alternative but to use the gun, I shot twice in the air and they took off... 18 year old leader of a nacion, Ecuador

Children may also be used in support roles such as holding weapons for safe keeping. ...we’d keep them [guns] on us, because they was like, you’re still young, we’re going to end up in the county jail, but you’d just go to the juvenile thing so that was the chances we were taking at that time. That’s when I got to hold my first gun, when I was twelve years old. Gang member, Chicago

In the pandillas of El Salvador, as in the gangs of Chicago, interviewees claimed that generally much younger children are not armed by the group for being ‘too small’. However, they did also stress the importance of ‘ability’ rather than a specific age when talking of armed actions and the majority of interviewees from El Salvador were using firearms by their early teens. In South Africa, immediately after joining a street gang minors are armed. As a result, all respondents there were using guns at around thirteen years of age. For street gangs in Manenberg, age is not the principal issue when it comes to arming gang members. The only necessary criterion is gang membership and some respondents even reported being armed before fully joining the group. When asked at what point minors are using guns, an interviewed gangster replied, “everybody starts – doesn’t matter what the age is.” Being armed With the exception of some of the smaller pandillas in Ecuador where members individually own firearms, all armed groups investigated are responsible for arming their members. Weapons utilised by minors within the context of group activity, therefore, are not individually possessed but remain the property of the group itself.

1

In Nigeria, respondents from the three groups investigated talked of being armed between 15-17 years of age. In Jamaica, only one respondent talked of being armed between 15-16 years of age, although people working for community-based NGOs claimed that adolescent gang members are now armed from 14 years and up. 2 “…pajizas [escopeta rémington repetidora] de 10 de 8, de 12, 3.2.”

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I used guns in the gang, [they] belonged to the leader of the gang. We had a 9mm handgun...I used guns such as [a] pump rifle and Mack 11 sub-machine gun. Former corner gang member Kingston, Jamaica

In the Philippines, all respondents from CVOs said that that their weapons came from the barangay captain or straight from the mayor himself. Firearms used by members of the Hard Livings in Manenberg are also the property of the gang itself. Firearms have to be signed for when taken and the loss of a weapon may have harsh consequences. Similarly, in El Salvador respondents said that lost weapons had to be paid for. As one pandillero explained, “…well, the gun is just loaned out, but if it is lost you have to pay for it. Of course, depending on what you get, you have to turn over half.” In the OPC in Nigeria, firearms are strictly controlled by the group. As a 17 year-old member of the OPC explained, “…we are only allowed to carry arms at night when we are on vigilante duty or when the leader is attending a meeting or any other official function during the day.” Similarly in Rio de Janeiro, guns are strictly controlled by the drug faction. Q: ...and how old were you when you started working with firearms? A: 14 years old. Q: Did you buy your first weapon? A: No. The boca3 gave it to me. Left it with me to do the security...it’s from the boca but it’s mine to carry. 18 year-old drug trafficker, Rio de Janeiro

As a result of such gun control policies, the types of armed groups investigated by this study usually have a cache of arms under the control higher-ranking members or a specifically chosen member. In the naciones of Ecuador, for example, the lider maximo designates a weapons custodian and decides where the guns are stored. This information is only known by three members of the nacion at any one time. Street gangs in Chicago have a similar policy. As one gang member explained, “…there actually would be a safe box, somebody holding all the guns till somebody needs them.” However, during times of gang warfare, guns remain with gang members constantly. “Basically during war time, during war time you got to keep it on you. In war times, it better to have it on you. They’ll catch you slipping. Then, but when it’s cool, you don’t have it on you, cause for what? Everybody cool.” Respondents from the Hard Livings gang in Manenberg said that their stash of arms was shifted between safe houses in order to avoid detection by the police. One gang member described the firearms cache as, “…a bag this high, full of guns.” Firearms training The level of firearms training that interviewees said they had received varies both between and within groups. In the Philippines, all respondents claimed to have received no formal training from their CVO, instead depending on individual practice and informal tutorials from older members. However, other sources point to the fact that the police and army have been known to train CVOs in firearms usage and tactics and even supply them 3

Boca de fumo refers to the drug sales point within the favela. However, boca is used here to refer to the local level managers of the faction.

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with weapons. In Colombia, most respondents from the bandas delincuentes had also received little official training. …we have guns in the gang, I would do the maintenance, when you start handling them you learn their mechanism …I used them for the first time when I was 12, I feel adrenaline. It’s a high, I liked handling them and that’s it. 15 year old member of a banda delincuente,Medellin

Members of urban based paramilitaries in Medellin, however, talked of more organised weapons training that took place outside of the city. I received military training. Physically speaking, we had to go to school; they taught us how to handle firearms. We always did our training in far away places, like other villages. We trained with firearms, and we had to line up. We trained once or twice a week, at night. Youth member of a paramilitary, Medellin

A 17 year-old Egbesu Boy said that he had only been shown by superiors how to aim a firearm and pull the trigger, although one of the group leaders claimed that, “…All [members of the] Egbesu Boys’ militant wing be they young or adult are as well trained as any guerrilla fighter in the world. We have a training ground.” Similarly, some the interviewed Bakassi Boys claimed that new recruits received three months of training in weapons use and crime fighting from the group. Minors working for street gangs in South Africa and drug factions in Rio de Janeiro spoke of receiving similar levels of training. In both cases, respondents said they had been given instruction from older members, had read manuals or library books on firearms’ usage and in some cases had been formally trained by shooting at mannequins or other static targets. Interviewees from the Manenberg Hard Livings also described a shooting technique they employ that enables three shooters to fire in sequence, one firing whilst two reload, in order to create a constant stream of fire. They claimed to use this technique in drive-by shootings and attacks on homes. In Rio de Janeiro, drug factions have reportedly hired ex-military servicemen to train members in the usage of high powered weapons such as AK47s, H&K G3s and AR-15s assault rifles and hand grenades.4 Despite the differing levels of formal and informal firearms training within the groups, one commonality in all case studies was that minors were already accustomed to firearms upon entry. As discussed in ‘Process of involvement’, all children and youth interviewed for this study grew up in communities, neighbourhoods or rural areas in which one or more armed groups play a dominant role. Furthermore, these areas often have high levels of guncrime and state forces such as the police may constitute another heavily armed local presence. As a result, children growing up in such environments regularly see firearms in the streets or with family members, friends and acquaintances. In addition to children being ‘exposed by context’ to armed groups in their area, they are also ‘exposed by context’ to guns. The fact that many children growing up in the types of communities covered by this study 4

See, “Traficantes atuam com táticas de Guerrilha” O Globo, 21/10/01, pg. 24, and “Ex-militares do Exército treinam traficantes no Rio: Cursos dados por cabos e soldados da reserva custam até R$8 mil por mês”, O Globo, 03/02/02, and “Traficantes contam com ex-militares”, Jornal do Brasil, 04/04/02.

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are exposed to guns as part of everyday life is starkly demonstrated by findings from the ISS school survey5 in Cape Town. Results from the 200-student survey carried out at three senior secondary schools in Manenberg, revealed that nearly half of the boys and 28% of the girls had held a loaded gun. Witnessing killings In addition to being exposed to firearms, children growing up in the areas in which investigated armed groups are active are routinely exposed to armed violence and death. Due to living in Manenberg, 71% of the boys and 63% of the girls responding to the ISS school survey6 had seen someone shot, and 51% of the boys and 45% of the girls reported having seen a killing. The following quote from a teenage drug trafficker in Rio de Janeiro tells a similar story for children growing up in the city’s favelas. Q: Have you already killed anyone? A: Yeah, I’ve already killed a few. Q: And how do you feel about that? Do you think it’s normal? A: I think it’s normal. I’m used to it already. Since I was a kid, I’ve seen people killed. In the war of 94 [1994], I saw a lot of people killed. I got used to it. Now I don’t care anymore. Q: How was the war in 94? Who was it between? A: Between the enemy and the Comando [Vermelho]. The favela was full of dead people. Q: How long did this war last? A: Three days. Q: [...] How old were you at this time? A: I was 10 years old.

Witnessing the death of friends or family members in such settings was given by a significant number of respondents as a reason for joining an armed group in order to gain revenge or protection.7 For example, having witnessed his brother being shot to death by members of his own gang at the age of 9, one respondent from Manenberg joined the Hard Livings at the age of 13 to get a gun to exact revenge. Although the two men who killed his brother were jailed, he later managed to kill one of their brothers. A respondent from a banda delincuente in Medellin gave a similar story. I had to use firearms. When your friend gets killed you have plenty of motives. When I was 14 in a fight between students in Pedregal... I borrowed a firearm and shot, once, twice, up to six times. The guy didn’t die. He recovered…

Being shot and getting killed Most of the youth gang members interviewed had been shot at or hit by gunfire. When asked if he’d ever been shot before, one Chicagoan gang member replied, “I got shot right 5

In conjunction with this study, the Institute for Security Studies administered a two-page yes-no/true-false questionnaire to 200 students on 6 October 2003 at three senior secondary schools in Manenberg: Manenberg, Silverstream, and Phoenix. A total of 72 males and 128 females completed the forms, including 29 sixteen yearolds, 67 17 year-olds, 64 eighteen year-olds, and 40 students of nineteen years or older. 6 Ibid 7 See ‘Vulnerability and Resilience: why children join armed groups’.

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here on my hand, I got shot right here. I got shot five times all on my leg, the back of my leg.” Children and youth interviewed in all countries covered by this study had similar stories. In Cape Town, all interviewed gang members had lost friends and fellow gang members to violent deaths. Furthermore, all but one of the eight interviewees had been shot at least once. One respondent had been shot on three separate occasions and another twice by the time he was 17 years old. One interviewee reported having been shot twice, stabbed, gang raped and beaten on multiple occasions. Minors working for the drug factions in Rio de Janeiro had similar stories, as the testimony of one 17 year-old drug trafficker shows. A: I got hit by one of their bullets [...] in the shoulder. Q: Whose bullet was it? A: From that favela over there. Q: But where were you? A: I was here. They shot from there to here.

Many are not lucky enough to survive. All respondents from the street gangs in Chicago had seen fellow gang members killed. One Vice Lord had had his best friend killed the day before he was interviewed, “My man got killed yesterday, his name is Big Boy, at Gladis and Kilbourn. He got six times in the face. Now I was just talking to him yesterday, just was talking to him.” Less than a month after interviews with CVO members in the Philippines were completed, one of the respondents was killed by gunfire. Rudy8 joined his local CVO at 17 years of age and died in a gunfight between the MILF9 and government troops being supported by his CVO. The encounter occurred when the MILF retaliated against the CVO for the killing of their leader, an important pagali member, the previous day. Sandra Sewell, a female member of the Jungle 12 gang and active community leader and university student in August Town, Jamaica, was shot and killed by the Jamaican army not long after being interviewed for this research study. She was reportedly unarmed at the time of the shooting. Shooting and killing In addition to being shot at and getting killed, minors and youths in all armed groups investigated shoot at and murder other people. In the case of youth gangs in Latin America, disputes with rivals or criminal activity were the most common reasons cited by respondents for carrying out killings, usually during fire-fights. In the naciones of Ecuador, eight of the 12 interviewed members of the naciones had witnessed fellow members killing at least one other human being, and five of the 12 respondents had already killed by the time of interview. In El Salvador, six of the 12 pandilleros interviewed admitted to having killed on at least one occasion. Of these 12 respondents, only one was above eighteen years of age at the time of interview, seven being between fourteen and seventeen years old. One of the pandilleros said that he had killed for the first time at 13 years of age having been sent on a ‘mission’ by his pandilla. Interviewees from Chicago’s street gangs also talked about killings within the context of gang ‘warfare’ over control of the local drug trade. 8 9

an alias Moro Islamic Liberation Front

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…from their building you could look into our spot. And they had a sniper. And he was standing right there in front of the building, he was shooting right there …and he shot him [fellow gang member] in the head.

In Medellin, respondents also talked of criminal activity and encounters with rival bandas as the principle reasons for killing others. When I rob with a gun I am hurting that person and when I kill, even if it’s an enemy, I am hurting his family. Mostly I rob but in some cases I kill. That’s the damage I do when I take someone’s life. In the shootouts we can’t see if we were hitting anyone. I’ve only killed 3 people. 16 year old member of a banda delincuente, Medellin

In South Africa, respondents said that the younger gang members are expected to prove themselves during armed encounters with rival gangs. They added that younger gang members are sent into armed confrontations first, the older members following afterwards. One respondent claimed to have killed four members of a rival gang in the last local gang ‘war’. One interviewee in Manenberg, Cape Town, said that he had been armed by the Hard Livings before joining simply for stating that he wished to kill rival gang members. In the Philippines, CVO members may find themselves killing adversaries in fire-fights with a host of potential enemies, including other CVOs, opposing pagali, criminal gangs, the army or insurgent groups. However, a number of CVOs used as private armies have a dual nature and are involved in both community policing and criminal activities. Within these contexts, CVO members may end up taking part in summary executions. Referring to ‘hard headed’ people in the community such as thieves, one respondent explained, “…there is no evidence that I have killed anyone but that is what we do when there are people who don’t listen.” Other respondents were more candid about CVO members killing rivals, in this case three teenagers suspected of killing a member of the ruling pagali. When we dumped their bodies in the water, I prayed that God would forgive me because I didn’t want to do what we did.

Another respondent from a CVO explained why in some cases killings must be carried out. It depends on their orders [on what to do with an enemy of the pagali]. If they are to be killed, you should kill them because you will suffer if you don’t. It’s your life in place of theirs. They [the pagali] can have you killed by the other CVO [members].

In other countries, respondents also talked of participating in summary executions and murder. One respondent from the Bakassi Boys admitted to having killed ‘criminals’ during vigilante activities. Respondents from other groups investigated in Nigeria talked of killing rivals during ethnic clashes or in fighting with state forces in the Niger Delta. In Rio de Janeiro, interviewed drug traffickers talked of involvement in highly intense fire-fights between rival drug factions or with the military or civil police forces.10 These are well documented in the city’s local press.11 10 11

See Dowdney 2003:151-154. See Dowdney 2003:90-117.

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Within the realms of group life, minors may also murder ‘civilians’ that are not from their own or rival groups. I was 13 when I shot my first man – he was innocent. He was on his way to report to the enemy – so I shot him. He was fat. Junior member of the Hard Livings, Manenberg

The effects of killing The result of taking part in lethal violence seems to have had similar effects on many of those interviewed. Having witnessed the torture and murder of three teenagers, a young CVO member said he ‘…couldn’t sleep or eat for days. I could still see what they did to the three [teenagers].’ A gang member from Chicago talked about how he felt after having shot at a rival. When asked how old he was when he first used a firearm, he responded: Probably sixteen. My friend had a gun, I had never shot one. When I first shot a gun, I hit a person, blanked out, I starting seeing bodies, bodies coming my way, anything come my way, I was by myself, the police got to come. I got away, but I was like damn, I just killed somebody or I just shot somebody, this and that. I was blanking out. I was like, what should I do, what should I do, should I kill myself, I was thinking like that, like damn, what should I do? I have to deal with an attorney, church doesn’t bother me, but it was like I had a devil inside of me. I pray, I don’t pray everyday, but I stay focused.

In El Salvador, pandilleros who had killed said that on their first occasion they had been scared, but that after the first killing it became easier. When asked about how he felt after killing his first victim, one pandillero replied, “...that day I did not sleep, as I saw myself shooting him... And since I cried out, I didn’t sleep well [...] Then I became addicted to killing.” In addition to becoming psychologically affected, participating in often intensive levels of lethal violence also caused respondents to express a very fatalistic attitude toward their own deaths occurring violently and soon. I guess I’ll probably end up the same way my father did [killed in an encounter] because in this type of work, things like that happen. That’s why as early as now, I’m saving up for my brothers’ and sisters’ education. 17 year old member of a CVO that joined at 14 years old, Maguindanao province, Philippines No, I ain’t afraid, but everything happens for a reason. Whatever happens, happens, you can’t control it. If it’s your time, it’s your time. That’s why you got to live your life while you can. Have as much fun as you can, do what you’re going to do, because when it’s over, it’s over. Vice Lord, Chicago My future will be decided here [at the boca de fumo12 ]. If I manage to stay alive until I’m 18 years old will depend on me not messing up. If I don’t mess up, if the police don’t get me and kill me, then I’ll make it. 14 years old drug trafficker, Rio de Janeiro

12

drug sales point

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BEING A MAN: GENDER CONSIDERATIONS OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN ORGANISED ARMED VIOLENCE The great majority of respondents for Part II were male (111 boys were interviewed compared to 9 girls). Respondents were selected randomly by local researchers, although the decision of who to interview was limited by the access given to potential respondents by the groups in question, or their members. It is possible that groups may have deliberately denied or overlooked access to female members.1 However, the following limited findings may suggest that, at least in the case of these investigated groups, the majority of members are male: In Nigeria, local researchers did not encounter any female members in the Bakassi Boys or the Egbesu Boys. In Ecuador, interviews with members of pandillas and naciones suggest that female membership accounts for between 15% and 20%.2 During interview, jefes of armed groups in Medellin suggested that female participation has increased from between 7% and 9% previously, to 12% since 2002.3 During eight months of fieldwork in Rio de Janeiro, not a single female member of a drug faction was encountered.4 The only investigated groups that had female branches were the street gangs of Chicago. Gender roles of the members of investigated armed groups were not included as an explicit research variable5 , although interviews demonstrated that female respondents had both similarities and differences with their male counterparts. Like the boys, many had left school immediately before or after joining an armed group.6 Also like male members, female respondents were from poor communities and faced many of the same socio-economic disadvan1

There would need to be more investigation on this possibility if it were to be supported or refuted. See Loor., Kleber, “Ecuador´s Pandillas and Naciones - A dreadful reality and a challenging task: from victims to victimizers” (2005), Ser Paz / DNI, at www.coav.org.br. 3 See Ramirez., Ivan, “Medellin: The Invisible Children of the Social and Armed Conflict” (2005), Coalición Contra la Vinculación de Niños, Niñas y Jóvenes al Conflicto Armado en Colombia, at www.coav.org.br. 4 Dowdney 2003. 5 A project by Viva Rio will research the multiple roles of women and girls in armed violence in Rio de Janeiro from March, 2005. For research on the involvement of girls and women in armed conflict see; Brett & Specht, “Young Soldiers: Why they Choose to Fight” (ILO 2004); Mazurana., Dyan, ‘Women in Armed Opposition Groups Speak on War, Protection and Obligations under International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law”, Geneva Call, PSIO (Programme for the Study of International Organisations(s)), 2004, at http://www.genevacall.org/news/testi-events/ gc-29aug04(report-l).pdf; McKay., Susan, R.N.,& Mazurana., Dyan, “Girls in Militaries, Paramilitaries, and Armed Opposition Groups” at http://www.waraffectedchildren.gc.ca/girls-en.asp; UN Office of the Special Representative http:/ /www.un.org/special-rep/children-armed-conflict/English/GirlsinWar.html; United Nations Populations Fund “The impact of conflict on Women”, http://www.unfpa.org/upload/lib_pub_file/46_filename_armedconflict_women.pdf; Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, “Women, Peace and Security Resources: Demobilisation, Disarmament, Repatriation, Resettlement and Reintegration, http://www.peacewomen.org/resources/DDR/ddrrrindex.html; Women, War, Peace and Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR), http://www.womenwarpeace.org/ issues/ddr/ddr.htm. 6 In the USA, the gang experience and leaving school often coincides with early pregnancy; the majority of the 73 female gang members interviewed by Hagedorn in Milwaukee were or had been teen mothers. See Hagedorn., John M, “Institutionalised Gangs and Violence in Chicago” (2005), University of Illinois-Chicago, Great Cities Institute, at www.coav.org.br. 2

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tages that boys from those communities face. As with some male respondents, some had joined for protection, as the following female gang member in Chicago explains. …if it’s somebody else like a neutron7 ...they gonna mess with ‘em, but us, they never mess with us, ‘cause they’s always scared ‘cause the gang’s always gotta be on our side no matter what.

Similar to boys, and as demonstrated by the following quote from a 15 year-old female member of a banda in Medellin, in some of the countries included in this study girls are using firearms. They would steal the guns, or sometimes the jefe would send them …but I never used a gun to actually kill someone ...For me, guns are a tool for defence, something that belongs to you, it was like the thing your heart most desired – but I knew it was bad, that no good would come of it.

However, in most of the armed groups investigated, female members tend not to use firearms to the same degree as male members, if at all. Female gang members in Chicago talked of only having guns of a lower calibre to their boyfriends. …my boyfriend. He had plenty of guns. He had money. I just had his little 22. I kept that gun. It was my gun. Female gangster, Chicago

More typically however, female gang members were expected to hold firearms for male members. Members of the SOS (Sisters of the Struggle; the Black Gangster Disciples’ female branch) complained about this during interview, “Hold this gun! Hold this…Hold this then, do this, do this.” In South Africa, female gangsters said they rarely used guns, relying on knives for defence and attack instead. In Ecuador, female respondents also spoke of using smaller calibre weapons than their male counterparts, although the use of guns was restricted only to those who were in relationships with lideres máximos or oscuros. Female members that were not in such relationships said they used other weapons such knives and razors. In the Philippines, although girls may provide services to the pagali through membership of a CVO, those encountered by researchers were not armed. This difference in the usage of firearms means that although girls are part of armed groups, and in some cases may be armed themselves, their direct participation in armed violence is less than that of boys. This differentiation is clearly demonstrated in the firearms-related homicide rates presented in Part III. In El Salvador in 2000, for example, for every female who died from gunshot wounds up to 35 males died for the same reason. In Chicago during 2001, up to 26 males died from firearms-related causes for every female. The differing usage of firearms by male and female group members may give us a clue as to why, on the whole, more boys than girls join armed groups. In many of the communities covered by this study, notions of ‘manhood’ are tied to gaining respect, women and guns; all of which are made available to adolescent boys when joining an armed group. Some of the female respondents in Colombia said they had joined a banda due to becoming 7

non-gang member.

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emotionally8 involved with a male member. In contrast, none of the boys interviewed said they had joined as the result of becoming involved with a female member. Instead, for many adolescent males, joining an armed group becomes a way to assert particular visions of masculinity; participating in a strong and recognised group and using a gun means that, in many cases, they become more attractive to the opposite sex. Undoubtedly more research is needed on gender roles within armed groups. The little information presented here only touches on the surface of a complex set of relationships and culturally propagated gender-based behaviour. Learning more about the roles of girls, boys, men and women in armed groups can significantly assist programmers and policy makers to implement successful prevention and reinsertion models, and target those interventions with greater precision. Future research efforts could address the following key questions, among others: • Are girls that do join organised armed groups doing so for the same reasons as boys? If not, what are their primary motives? • What are the specific demobilisation, reintegration or rehabilitation needs of girls and women in the types of organised armed groups investigated here? • To what extent do the actions of mothers, sisters and girlfriends support or endorse violent masculinity, often expressed by boys and men joining armed groups? • DDR9 efforts over the last five years have grown to understand the notion of ‘camp followers’10 – women, girls and young boys that associate with armed groups either voluntarily or by force. To what degree is the same phenomenon observable in urban gangs? • Finally, how does sexual violence – the perpetration of it, and the escape from it – influence the behaviour and involvement of girls, boys, men and women in armed groups?11

8

Although not explicitly stated, within the context of the interview this was understood as sexual involvement with a group member. 9 Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration. 10 See http://www.un.org/special-rep/children-armed-conflict/English/ChildSoldiers.html. 11 See Bourgois., Philippe, ‘The everyday violence of gang rape’, in ‘Violence in War and Peace: An Anthology’, eds. NANCY SCHEPER-HUGHES, University of California, Berkeley & PHILIPPE BOURGOIS, University of California, San Francisco, Blackwell Publishing, 2004.

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FUTURE PERSPECTIVES This chapter investigates how interviewed children and youth see their future in relation to their involvement in organised armed violence. Respondents were asked whether they wanted to leave their armed group, and if so, how they thought this might happen. In addition, respondents were asked to reflect on how they felt about close friends or siblings becoming involved in their group, and how future generations could be prevented from joining similar armed groups. As outlined below, respondents’ reflections on such questions were very revealing as to how they felt about their lifestyles and their involvement in violence, as well as how they perceived themselves. The practicalities of leaving an armed group Leaving the types of armed groups investigated by this study may involve a number of complications and may be dangerous. However, in most cases, and if done in the correct manner, it is possible. For example, interviewed child and youth members of Rio de Janeiro’s drug factions unanimously denied the myth that any attempt to leave a drug faction would result in being killed by fellow members.1 However, what respondents did make clear was that one had to know how to leave. Permission must be sought from the gerente geral, or general manager, and all debts to the faction must be paid.2 Although researchers came across a number of young people who had successfully left a drug faction and gone on to live peaceful and productive lives, such a move is still fraught with danger. One adolescent met by researchers left his drug faction voluntarily only to be beaten publicly by the police who refused to believe he was no longer involved in the drug trade. As a result this boy went back to his old job. In the Philippines, interviewees also said that in order to leave the CVO, a member must get permission from the barangay captain or above. However, some respondents seemed confused as to whether and how this would actually happen. Although a potentially difficult process, made more so by their involvement in CVO related criminal activity, some CVO members do manage to leave; one of the respondents from this study even managed to do so before fieldwork was completed. Having joined the CVO at the age of 15 years, this respondent left at 20 years old in order to pursue a course in electrical engineering. It must be noted, however, that this CVO member was also a member of the ruling pagali and this may have made his exit substantially easier. Although membership in the maras of El Salvador is considered a lifelong commitment, it is possible for a pandillero to continue his membership in name, but no longer participate in group activities. This process is called ‘calmando’ and may take place, for example, if a pandillero decides to settle down, get married and have a family. Similarly to the drug factions in Rio, however, changing one’s status in this way is a potentially dangerous situation. ‘Calmados’ are not only killed by rivals due to old disputes, they may also con1 2

Dowdney 2003:215 Ibid

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tinue to suffer police repression despite their new status. This was especially the case in 20032004 as pandilleros, ‘calmados’ or active, were detained in their thousands by the police following the government’s repressive ‘mano dura’, or ‘iron fist’, policy.3 Although older pandilleros may face a number of risks when ‘calmado’, they do have this option. For younger members that have just joined, however, ‘calmado’ tends not to be an option. From the age of nine I was hanging out with gangs, but at 10 I decided to join...afterwards when I saw how serious it was I got scared and I didn’t go out and for three months didn’t take part. After that they read me the book4 and I passed through the ‘crazy minute’.5

Similarly, for older members that try to leave a mara by running away rather than ‘calmando’, there are potentially fatal dangers. For example, Mara Salvatrucha member, 16 year-old Edgar Chocoy Guzman from Guatemala, travelled 3,000 miles by foot and train to seek asylum in the United States following threats from fellow pandilleros. Despite his pleas for help, the US Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported him on March 10th, 2004, and he was found dead from gunshot wounds ten days later in his native country.6 Emilio Goubaud, director of the Alliance for Crime Prevention (APREDE), claims to know of 79 other youth that have been killed after having tried to leave pandillas in Guatemala. Mr Goubard claims that most were killed by organised drug gangs and suspected death squads operating within state security forces.7 In Colombia, as elsewhere, respondents from the bandas delincuentes reported that although leaving the group was possible, members risked reprisals from within and without. Consequently, on leaving a banda or urban paramilitary, members were often forced to leave their neighbourhood. Of all groups investigated, some of the coloured street gangs of the Cape Town flats appear to be the most difficult for members to leave. Respondents from the Hard Livings said that they could leave voluntarily as long as they didn’t join another gang. However, if they were also affiliated to a numbers gang they would be expected to pay protection money; otherwise, protection would be withdrawn leaving them exposed to a revenge killing by enemy gangsters. Gang members from the 26 Americans said that members were unable to leave, period. A senior 26 American told researchers, “You can never leave. If you leave you die. That is the dead end.” In addition to group rules making it difficult or, as in the case of the 26 Americans, impossible to leave the group, young people wishing to change their lifestyle may also face a number of other problems. As well as possible revenge attacks or police repression, children and young people leaving armed groups may also face prejudice from community members due to their previous involvement in group activity. Members of groups in which tattooing is an important part of identity are even more likely to face such treatment, as gang tattoos are an indelible link to a lifestyle perceived by many as violent and dangerous. 3

See ‘Public policy: current trends in dealing with children and youth in organised armed violence’ An expression used when a member is being reminded of the promises made to the pandilla upon joining. 5 Public disciplinary beating during a one-minute period 6 ‘Guatemalan child murdered after being deported from the United States’, published on 14/04/2004 by www.coav.org.br 7 ‘Youth killed in Guatemala after trying to leave gangs’, published on 12/09/03 by www.coav.org.br 4

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If you have stress – you have five children – and you are a gangster – you cannot walk anywhere. By Epping you will go to look for work there – there are 28 gangs – you can’t go there. You go by Bellville – there are also 28’s. Round the Western Cape are 26, 27 and 28. If you have a mark [tattoo] and if you walk in the wrong place, then you die without speaking. Only for that mark on your body. Senior 26 American, Elsie’s River Society thinks we are monsters. The police want us dead …If we do not take off these tattoos, we will never be able to live in peace.8 pandillero, San Pedro Sula, Honduras

In all countries involved in this study, leaving an armed group is a potentially risky and lethal choice. Yet, if done correctly and according to group rules, in most cases it is possible to leave. Due to the dangers posed and the discriminatory reception awaiting, however, choosing to leave is a difficult decision. Whether or not respondents expressed a desire to do so is discussed below. Choosing to leave an armed group When group members were asked whether or not they wished to leave their armed group, responses were mixed. The most common reasons given for not wanting to leave the group were: Belonging: some respondents expressed their strong sense of identity with the group as a reason for not wishing to leave. As an older member of the OPC in Nigeria explained, “Quitting the OPC is like losing one’s identity and not knowing where one is coming from.’ Other respondents showed a desire to be internally successful within their armed group and therefore expressed no desire to leave. Excitement of group lifestyle: for some respondents the attraction and excitement of group lifestyle is a strong incentive to stay. You like to get drunk, get high, smoke weed, you know what I’m sayin’…. I mean, just want to, man, fuck somebody up today. Sometimes you just want to chill and sell drugs, I mean. I been in, I been in since ’96, man, and I ain’t goin’ nowhere, I don’t think I’m goin’ nowhere no time soon. I mean, that’s fucked up to say. I got three kids, but that’s what I like to do, man. gang member, Chicago

Fatalistic acceptance: other respondents expressed a fatalistic acceptance of their position, as if things were out of their control and there was nothing they could do about their lot in life. The following quote from a 16 year old CVO member in the Philippines that joined at 13 years of age clearly demonstrates such a perspective. I think that this is what was meant to be. I accept whatever will happen. It will mean that that was meant to be. I’m pretty hopeless. I only got to finish grade three! I leave everything else up to God. At least I got to help my parents. I’m happy just being able to do that.

No choice: other respondents were candid about the fact that leaving is simply not an option as for them there are no alternatives. 8

Quote taken from ‘Tattooed Warriors: Shuttling Between Nations, Latino Gangs Confound the Law’, The New York Times, September 26, 2004

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To tell you the truth, being part of OPC is a very dangerous thing but I think for now I have no choice because this is the only thing that fetches me my daily livelihood. I know one day I will return to school and live normally. This is not a normal life. I know it is not because you can die any day or at any time. 16 year old member of the OPC, Nigeria

In almost all cases where respondents expressed a desire to leave their group, they said they would do so only on condition of something else taking its place. For example: If they got jobs: the possibility of getting a job was the most common conditional respondents gave for leaving their group. Jobs were valued over education as an alternative to being in an armed group by most respondents. …I imagine in the future getting a decent job, getting paid more than the minimum wage, having good clothes, good food, better housing…push my little brother ahead. 15 year old member of a banda delincuente, Medellin

If the state/society/community offered support and alternatives: other respondents were more general about the kind of support they needed to leave their group, claiming that it was the responsibility of others to offer them the necessary alternatives. Life goes on like this. Maybe I could change if God would give me power to move ahead and get my things done. I would like a new life but for that to happen one needs a lot of opportunities. 17 year old member of a banda delincuente, Medellin

Regardless of whether or not they expressed a desire to leave their group, the majority of respondents were vague and seemingly hopeless about their futures. It is possible that such vagueness reflects the fact that many felt as though the future was out of their control. When a gang member in Chicago was asked if he wanted to return to school, he replied as though such an action didn’t depend on him, “Yeah. When the opportunity presents itself, yeah, I’ll go back.” It may be that a refusal to take responsibility for future actions is a strong indication of how few opportunities most interviewees actually have. If one has little or no options, it is easier to refer to the future as though it were simply a destiny that had already been decided, rather than something that your actions could affect. As also noted in ‘Children, youth and armed violence’, for many respondents such a fatalistic view of the future was also extended to the question of death. I don’t think of the future... I don’t want to do something and then a couple of days later... bam, they kill you... I don’t think of tomorrow, but I thank God for every moment... no one knows how we’ll end up... pandillero, El Salvador

Preventing others from getting involved Although many interviewed children and youth were vague about their own futures, most respondents in all countries did not want close friends or younger siblings to join their own or similar armed groups. 123

…I don’t want my brother to be involved in a gang like myself, because it [a gang] spoils the community, the people. Although I am already involved, that’s what I least want. 15 year old member of a banda delincuente, Medellin

A number of respondents from CVOs in the Philippines were even using their salaries for their younger siblings’ education so that they wouldn’t end up in a CVO too. A youth CVO member told researchers, “I accept whatever happens to me as long as my brothers and sisters don’t get involved.” In Nigeria, members of the Bakassi Boys expressed concern as to the dangers of exposing young people to the high levels of violence encountered during group activity. The harassment of other innocent citizens at times and the extra-judicial murders that these younger members are exposed to by taking up arms is not the best for them. I will never allow any of my children or little brothers to get involved. Bakassi Boy, Nigeria

When asked what future generations would need to not join armed groups like theirs, the most common responses were: More jobs: “We’re down in the economy, we gotta get jobs for people. And the only reason that people do stuff like this is ‘cause we ain’t got no jobs for them. And they ain’t got no choice but to do what they gotta do. They gotta survive some way. They gotta rob, sell them drugs, and destroy other people’s lives, so they can help their own. It ain’t good, but that’s just the way the world was made.” Satan’s Disciple, Chicago. Alternatives as opposed to repression: “These laws don’t help anything... because if they wanted to help, they would provide jobs... that is why people join the gangs, because there is no work, nothing…” pandillero, El Salvador. Gun control: “What do we got gun stores out here for? What do you need guns for? Can’t nobody shoot nobody if they don’t got no guns.” Vice Lord, Chicago. Investment in sports and cultural activities: “If the government had to come to our community, Manenberg, there’s so much talent in our community. Damn, I don’t want to brag or anything, but you must hear me sing and perform, then you will see there’s talent in Manenberg. Those gangsters they know how to dance, they can play soccer, they’re good soccer stars, they can do anything, they can sing, they can dance.” Gang member, Manenberg. Needing options and alternatives Regardless of how they thought they or their colleagues could be helped to leave their armed group, or future generations could be prevented from joining, the majority of respondents seemed to feel that the responsibility for such a change is in the hands of others. Despite the fact that all respondents were very clear that they had made a conscious choice to join their group, when it comes to leaving, they were equally clear that the onus is on others, be it the state, civil society or the private sector, to offer them a way out. For example, in Jamaica a juvenile offender detained for gang and violence-related offences at the Hilltop Correctional Centre said that when he left the detention facility he planned to work 124

and go back to school. However, if “nutten nah gwaan” [nothing happens] he will go back to crime. A fellow detainee made a similar comment, explaining that he would “take up the gun again” if unable to find work or study upon release. Rather than being seen as passing the responsibility for making such a life change or even as a lack of real interest in doing so, this could be understood as a reflection of the fact that most children and youth in armed groups have few other viable life options, and until they do so, leaving a group is not simply a matter of choice. As discussed in ‘Vulnerability and Resilience – why children join armed groups’, if we can accept that many children ‘choose’ to join an armed group due to a combination of insufficient options and strong influences, then it is possible to understand that they ‘choose’ to remain in the group for the same reasons. If other options are not made available, then they have little choice but to stay, and may therefore present their future in fatalistic terms as though it were out of their control. Self perceptions Although vague and non-committal about their own futures, the fact that most respondents felt strongly about not wanting younger siblings or other children to become involved is a clear indication that many did not see their lifestyles or their groups as positive. Although it’s painful to admit it, we are the bad elements in our village. There are no other bad elements in our village aside from us. But if you think about it, the mayor is the one who is the most evil because he tolerates all of these bad activities and he’s the brains behind them too. I’m saying this because I know that it won’t reach him or them. But in the end, there’s nothing we can do. This is the job that we chose so we must follow whatever they want us to do. Youth CVO member, Philippines

Although feeling that the future was outside their control, some respondents clearly regretted some of their past choices. I became too lazy to study. I have a friend who is now a professional. As for me, I am now a murderer. This was not the life that I had dreamt of having. I didn’t think I would end up like this. I guess I was too young then. I think I was only 14 when I became a CVO. I didn’t think of what would happen in the future because I needed money. I wanted to buy what I wanted. I didn’t want very expensive things. It’s just that I couldn’t even afford things that didn’t cost that much. We are very poor. Now, I just accept this because this is what is available to me. Youth CVO member, Philippines

Conclusion Although potentially dangerous, if done in the correct manner and given the correct support, in most instances it is possible for children and youth to leave the armed groups investigated. With the exception of one or two of the investigated groups, the main obstacle to young people taking such a step is not their group, but continued repression, prejudice and potential danger from the police, society and rival groups. The vast majority of respondents did not want younger siblings to become involved and were clear that they didn’t see their lifestyles as ‘positive’. The combination of this and the fact that interviewees seemed so fatalistic about their futures may reflect their limited options for leaving the group 125

rather than a lack of interest in doing so. However, whether respondents wanted to leave their groups or not, what is clear from interviewees’ responses is that the existence of viable socio-economic alternatives is fundamental to a young person being able to really make such a choice, and equally important to preventing future generations from becoming involved.

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PART III

FIREARMS-RELATED MORTALITY As discussed earlier1 , measuring the levels of armed violence in which the investigated armed groups are involved can be difficult. This chapter presents the levels of firearms-related mortality within the countries and cities covered by the study, and discusses how such data can best be used to ascertain the levels of firearms-related death which armed group members both cause and are subject to. In order to determine whether firearms-related deaths are of an elevated nature within these localities, they are compared to natural causes and other external causes of mortality.2 Firearms-related mortality rates are then presented by gender and age group to determine which group is most affected. In order to determine whether the under 18 year-old age group are more or less affected by firearms-related deaths than the total population within these localities, these groups are compared throughout. Where possible, data for the following four indicators was collected by local researchers and analysed by Viva Rio. Results and conclusions are presented below. 1) Number of deaths for both the total population and the under 18 year-old age group, differentiating between natural and external causes between 1979-2002; 2) Number of deaths for both the total population and the under 18 year-old age group, differentiating between those caused by firearms-related injuries and all other external causes between 1979-2002. 3) Firearms-related mortality rates by sex and distinct age group3 for the last available year of data. 4) Firearms-related mortality rates of the general population and the under 18 yearold age group between 1979-2002. Restrictions and limitations There were a number of restrictions and difficulties encountered during data collection. Local researchers were asked to collect data for the specific areas in which investigated armed groups are active. With the exception of Rio de Janeiro, which is discussed below, and Chicago, 4 in almost all cases it was not possible to access comparable data by neighbourhood or particular area in order to focus on such localities. Instead, wherever 1

See ‘Typology of Investigated Armed Groups’. Such as traffic accidents for example. 3 Where possible data was collected for the following age groups: 0-9 yrs; 10-14 yrs; 15-17 yrs; 18-19 yrs; 20-24 yrs; 25+ yrs. In some cases in was not possible to access data that corresponded to these groups. In the case of Colombia, for example, it was only possible to aggregate data by the following age groups: 4 See www.gangresearch.net 2

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possible data was collated at the municipal or even country level only,5 limiting the nature and accuracy of comparisons as being representative of mortality rates caused or suffered by the investigated armed groups (this is discussed further in the conclusions to this chapter).6 In some cases, local researchers were unable to access government data banks at all (if they were held by the police for example); or it was not possible to obtain this information within the necessary timeframe. In other cases, data for all the above indicators had not been fully recorded by government or any other institution, and only partial data was available. In some of the countries covered by the study, mortality statistics of this nature were not recorded at the local, municipal or national levels by government or other institutions at all. The following results are representative of the data that was successfully collected. Data Sources Data sources varied by city and country depending on availability and access to information. Data sources for the cities and countries where information was collected were as follows: Colombia and Medellin (Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística); United States (Chicago Department of Public Health); Rio de Janeiro (Secretaria Municipal de Saúde - RJ); El Salvador (Instituto de Medicina Legal); Northern Ireland (NI Statistics and Research Agency). In addition to receiving data from these sources via local researchers, Viva Rio carried out internetbased research for data on mortality in the municipalities and countries being covered by the study; however, nothing significantly relevant to the above indicators was found. Results 1) Deaths by external causes as a percentage of all deaths amongst the total population in Chicago, El Salvador, Colombia, Medellin, Northern Ireland and Rio de Janeiro.

As demonstrated in Graph 3.1, deaths by external causes (injuries) as a percentage of all deaths amongst the total populations of Chicago, Medellin and Rio de Janeiro have remained relatively stable over time. Colombia presents the biggest increase over time of all localities, rising from 14.2% in 1979 to 25.2% in 2002. Northern Ireland has the lowest percentage of deaths by external causes, decreasing from 6.6% to 4.4% between 1979 and 2002 respectively. Although stable over time, the percentage of deaths by injuries in Medellin is considerably higher, at an average of 30% between 2000 and 2002 than all other municipalities and countries compared, with the exception of El Salvador which has an extremely elevated percentage of deaths by external causes. Although that figure decreased from 58.1% to 51.4% between 1998 and 2000, it is almost twice that of Medellin in 2000 and over 12 times higher than Northern Ireland in the same year. 5

In the case of Colombia, data was collected for both the whole country and Medellin as relevant data for Medellin was only encountered for a proportion of the comparative time period requested (1979-2002). It is worth noting that in relation to the above-noted indicators, Medellin has more exaggerated percentages and rates than for the whole country of Colombia. For indicators where data is only available for Colombia, therefore, the reader may presume that the situation in Medellin is likely to have been more exaggerated. 6 It is worth noting that: at the city level, homicide rates are usually worse than those for the country as a whole; country rates tend to mask variations by city or locale; and the trajectory of city homicide rates is not representative of those at the national level.

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Graph 3.1

2) Deaths by external causes as a percentage of all deaths amongst the under 18 year-old age group in Chicago, El Salvador, Colombia, Medellin, Northern Ireland and Rio de Janeiro.

What is most notable about the data presented in Graph 3.2 is that deaths by external causes as a percentage of all deaths amongst the under 18 year-old age group in all of the municipalities and countries compared here, with the exception of El Salvador, increased considerably over time. Rio de Janeiro increased the most, with a gradual rise between 1979 and 2002 of 8.1% to 26.4% respectively. In the case of Colombia, the percentage of death by injury doubled over time, rising steadily between 1979 and 2002 from 7.3% to 15% respectively. Injuries as a percentage of all deaths amongst this age group in Chicago and Northern Ireland increased less over this period. Chicago rose from 18.2% in 1979 to 24.7% in 2001, peaking in 1994 at 28%. Northern Ireland increased slightly from 16.5% in 1979 to 18.2% in 2002, peaking at 26.2% in 2000. Although El Salvador is the only locality in which external causes as a percentage of all deaths decreased amongst under 18 year-olds over the time period for which data was available, it remained extremely elevated at 66.8% in 1998 and 64.8% in 1999. (NOTE: this seems to contradict the figure quoted a couple of paragraphs back) This is up to three times higher than the other municipalities and countries under comparison and means that external causes were by far the most significant cause of death for children in El Salvador during this period. 129

Graph 3.2

3) Firearms-related deaths as a percentage of all deaths by external causes amongst the total population in Chicago, El Salvador, Colombia, Medellin, Northern Ireland and Rio de Janeiro.

As demonstrated by Graph 3.3, out of the compared countries and municipalities, firearms-related mortality as a percentage of all deaths by external causes for the total population has risen the most in Colombia and Rio de Janeiro. In Colombia there was an increase from 34.1% in 1979 to 66.7% in 2002, a total rise of 195.6% over this time period. In Rio de Janeiro there was an increase from 25.1% in 1979 to 44.9% in 2002, a total rise of 178.88% over this time period. Firearms-related mortality as a percentage of all deaths by external causes for the total population of Rio de Janeiro and Colombia peaked in the 1990’s with 47.8% and 67.7% respectively, decreasing and then rising again to around these levels again by 2002. Firearms-related mortality as a percentage of all deaths by injury varies but tends to decrease over time for the total populations of Chicago, Northern Ireland and El Salvador. The trajectory for Chicago fluctuates considerably throughout with a low of 19.6% and a high of 31.3%, but decreases overall between 1979 and 2002 from 30.6% to 21.1% respectively. Northern Ireland’s trajectory also decreases between these two years although not gradually, peaking at 17.8% in 1995 and falling to a low of 2.8% in 2002. Although percentages in Medellin decrease slightly between 1990 and 2002 from 83.5% to 79.4% respectively, this remains an extremely elevated level for firearms-related deaths as a percentage of all deaths caused by external causes amongst the total population. 130

Graph 3.3

4) Firearms-related deaths as a percentage of all deaths by external causes amongst the under 18 year-old age group in Chicago, El Salvador, Colombia, Medellin, Northern Ireland and Rio de Janeiro.

As demonstrated in Graph 3.4, firearms-related deaths as a percentage of all deaths by injury amongst the under 18 year-old age group increase the most in Colombia and Rio de Janeiro between 1979 and 2001. In Colombia we see a 284.7% rise, the greatest overall increase between these years of all municipalities and countries compared here, from 5.9% in 1979 to 16.8% in 2001. Rio de Janeiro is in second place with a rise of 311.3%, from 16% in 1979 to 49.8% in 2001. Medellin rose steadily from 30.8% in 1990 to 49.7% in 2002, an increase of 161.36%, and although less of an increase than Colombia as a whole, these percentages are considerably higher. In Chicago we see a less dramatic rise from 23.8% in 1979 to 31.2% in 2001 (an increase of 131%) with a peak of 46% in 1993. Northern Ireland remains stable with a trajectory that varies little between 1979 at 1.5% and 2000 at 0.9%. El Salvador is the only locality to decrease, falling slightly from 31.5% in 1998 to 27.8% in 2000.

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Graph 3.4

5) Firearms-related mortality rates per 100,000 inhabitants by sex and distinct age group for the last year of available data in Chicago, El Salvador, Colombia, Medellin, Northern Ireland and Rio de Janeiro.

Graphs 3.5 to 4.0 most visibly demonstrate that firearms-related deaths at the beginning of this century principally affected young males within all municipalities and countries compared. In all cases considerably more males died from firearms-related injuries than females. In El Salvador in 2000, for example, for every female that died from gunshot wounds between the ages of 20-24 years, 35 males died for the same reason. In Chicago during 2001, 26 males died from firearms-related causes to every female in the 18-19 year old age group. In Northern Ireland only males reportedly died from gunshot wounds in 2002. In Colombia (2002), Rio de Janeiro (2002), El Salvador (2000) and Northern Ireland (2002) males in the 20 to 24 year-old age group were the most susceptible to deaths by firearms. In Colombia this reached an extremely high 299.1 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants closely followed by Rio de Janeiro with 269.1 per 100,000. In Rio de Janeiro and El Salvador, following the 20 to 24 year-old age group, those most affected by firearm deaths were males in the 18 to 19 year old age group followed by those between 15 and 17 years of age. In Chicago males in the 18 to 19 year-old age group were most affected by gun deaths in 2001 with 140.5 mortalities per 100,000 inhabitants for this age group. Following this age group, those most affected by firearm deaths in Chicago during 2001 were males in the 20 to 24 year-old and 15 to 17 year-old age groups respectively. 132

Graph 3.5 El Salvador

Graph 3.6 Northern Ireland 2002

Graph 3.7 Colombia 2002

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Graph 3.8 Rio de Janeiro 2002

Graph 3.9 Chicago 2001

6) Firearms-related mortality rates per 100,000 inhabitants for the general population in Chicago, El Salvador, Colombia, Medellin, Northern Ireland and Rio de Janeiro.

Graph 3.10 demonstrates that firearms-related mortality rates for the total population rose over time only in Rio de Janeiro and Colombia. In Rio de Janeiro there was an increase in the firearm-related mortality rate from 22.2 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in 1979 to 45.1 per 100,000 in 2002, a rise of 203.1%. In Colombia there was also a considerable rise over time, from 38.2 per 100,000 in 1985 to 71.7 in 2002, an increase of 187.7%. In all other municipalities and countries compared here firearms-related deaths stayed constant or decreased over time. Although Medellin had the most significant drop of all, from 134

334.5 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants to 150.2 per 100,000, it may be noted that firearmsrelated mortality rates for the general population in the city are considered extremely elevated throughout this period and are substantially higher than those in all other localities. Graph 3.10

7) Firearms-related mortality rates per 100,000 inhabitants for the under 18 yearold age group in Chicago, El Salvador, Colombia, Medellin, Northern Ireland and Rio de Janeiro.

As demonstrated in Graph 3.11, firearms-related mortality rates for under 18 yearolds only rose in Rio de Janeiro and Colombia over time. Rio de Janeiro had the biggest increase between 1979 and 2002 of 393%, a rise from 4.3 gun deaths per 100,000 inhabitants under the age of 18 years to 16.9 per 100,000 for the same group in 2002. Colombia rose from 1.8 per 100,000 in 1985 to 3.4 per 100,000 in 2002. Rates for all other municipalities and countries decreased over time, although trajectories in most cases were not gradual and fluctuated considerably. The highest recorded firearms-related mortality rate for the under 18 year-old age group was 23.3 per 100,000 in Medellin during 1992 followed by 18.7 in Rio de Janeiro during 1989. The lowest recorded firearms-related mortality rate for the under 18 year-old age group was in Northern Ireland in 1984, 1985, 1991 and 1997 at 0.2 per 100,000 inhabitants.

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Graph 3.11

Conclusions The following conclusions are surmised from the above comparisons. Minors have been consistently more affected by injury as a cause of death than the general population, and this has increased disproportionately amongst this group over time. As demonstrated in Graphs 3.1 and 3.2, with the exception of Colombia and Medellin, the percentage of death by injury has been consistently higher over time for the under 18 yearold age group than for the total population within compared localities. For example, in Rio de Janeiro during 1979 external causes as a percentage of all deaths amongst minors stood at 18.2% compared with 8.3% for the total population. In 1990 they stood at 21.9% for minors and 7.9% for the total population, and in 2001 external causes as a percentage of all deaths were at 24.7% for minors and 8.9% for adults. In addition, as demonstrated in Graph 3.1, external causes as a percentage of all deaths amongst the total population remained relatively stable or decreased over time in all compared municipalities and countries. However, as demonstrated in Graph 3.2, these rates increased considerably over time for under 18 year-olds except for those in El Salvador.7 In Rio de Janeiro, for example, external causes as a percentage of all deaths amongst under 18 year-olds more than tripled between 1979 and 2002, from 8.1% to 26.9% over the period, whereas rates for the total population remained stable at between 11.2% and 11.7% over the same period. 7

In El Salvador, even though external causes decreased slightly as a percentage of all deaths between 1998 and 1999, they still remained the most significant cause of death for under 18 year-olds in the country at an extremely elevated 64.8% in 1999.

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Over time firearms-related deaths as a percentage of all deaths by external causes increased disproportionately more amongst minors than for the total population in all localities compared.8 For example, in Chicago gun deaths as a percentage of all deaths by external causes decreased amongst the total population from 30.6% in 1979 to 21.1% in 2001, a decrease of 69%, whereas amongst minors they rose from 23.8% to 31.2% over the same period, an increase of 131%. Although firearms-related mortality rose amongst the general population in Colombia by 195.6% between 1979 and 2002, it rose considerably more (by 300%) for minors during the same period. Gun deaths most affect young males between 15 and 24 years of age. As demonstrated in Graphs 3.5-3.9, in all cases9 young males between the ages of 15 and 24 years are more affected by firearms mortality than any other age group. Furthermore, women of all age groups are considerably less affected by gun deaths in comparison with males in all age groups. This correlates with qualitative findings elsewhere in this study10 which demonstrate that although children of ten years or younger may start the process of involvement in armed groups, they tend to become armed and participate in armed violence from 15 years onwards. Furthermore, the vast majority of group members in all counties are male. For these reasons, when comparing firearms-related mortality rates between the total population and minors of both sexes, rates for the total population were considerably higher over time due to the fact that rates for minors are decreased by the inclusion of under 18 year-old females and under 15 year-old males; both of these groups are less affected by gun death than males between 15 and 18 years of age. There is a need for specific data that represents the target group being studied. When attempting to gain more precise knowledge of the involvement of armed group members in gun violence, in addition to designing indicators that more precisely represent the involved sex and age groups, it is particularly necessary to focus on data from the specific areas in which groups are active. Failure to correlate data by specific area in this manner makes it difficult to estimate the firearms-related mortality rates of group members or their victims, or quantitatively gauge their involvement in gun violence. Comparisons with this objective by municipality or even country will be far less accurate due to the inclusion of unrelated factors in areas where armed groups are not active. This is most clearly demonstrated by Table 3.1 below. It is estimated that in Greater Rio de Janeiro there are at least 10,000 armed members of the city’s drug factions.11 However, they are not an active presence in all parts of the city, instead dominating the city’s favela communities.12 All of the above-listed areas in Table 3.1 are favelas in the city that have a strong and openly armed presence of drug factions within 8

With the exception of El Salvador where firearms-related deaths as a percentage of all deaths by external causes have decreased amongst both the under 18 year-old age group and the total population. 9 With the exception of Northern Ireland where males most affected are in the 20-24 year-old age group, followed by those of 25 years and above. 10 See ‘Process of involvement’, ‘Children youth and armed violence’ and ‘Being a Man: gender considerations of children and youth in organised violence’. 11 Dowdney 2003:51 12 See ‘Area of study profile’

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Table 3.1

them, with the exception of Bonsucesso, a neighbourhood that contains a number of favelas dominated by drug factions. Although these statistics are still open to error due to failure to report gun deaths correctly, people dying outside of the specific areas in which they were shot or the fact that clandestine cemeteries exist in most of these localities, they show that firearms-mortality rates for the total populations in areas where drug factions are active are up to six times higher than the rate for the total population in the municipality as a whole. Furthermore, if we define our target group further, we see that firearms-related mortality rates for males between 15-24 years in areas where drug factions are active are up to three times higher than those for the total population within those same areas. There is a need for a unified global data bank regarding violence-related statistics. As discussed in ‘Restrictions and limitations’, researchers encountered a number of difficulties collecting relevant data in many of the cities and countries covered by the study. Relevant data for the subject of study that specified the sex, age group and locality of the target group was even more difficult to find in most of these places. When data was found, it came from a diverse range of government institutions and/or international agencies. In order to make substantive comparisons between the levels of violence in which armed groups of the types investigated here are involved, an independent and unified global data bank that records comparable violence-related data is needed. Until we have detailed and comparable firearms-related homicide data relevant to the profile of group members within the specific communities in which armed groups are active, comparisons of this nature between groups remain limited.

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PART IV TREATING THE PROBLEM OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN ORGANISED ARMED VIOLENCE Part IV discusses common themes in the current treatment of children and youth in organised armed violence. Focusing on the countries that were included in this study, commonalities in public policy designed specifically for the treatment of this problem, or those utilised for this objective, are presented. Limitations in the effectiveness of current policy are then discussed, as are some notably successful projects and programmes, both from government and civil society, which came to light during the process of fieldwork. Part IV also discusses how the problem of children and youth in organised armed violence may be successfully treated. In doing so, Part IV revisits the model presented in Part II that outlines why some children are vulnerable and others resilient to joining local armed groups despite facing the same external risk factors. It is accepted that in the long-term, macro risk factors must be eliminated in order for the problem to be successfully eradicated. However, it is suggested that concurrent to the treatment of macro risk factors, such a model could be successfully used to strengthen existing local interventions to build up resilience amongst children and young people so that they choose to leave or not to join the armed groups that dominate their areas. A strategic model is then presented for an integrated approach to dealing with the problem at the municipal or regional1 level. Part IV concludes by briefly looking at how lessons from the successful treatment of children and youth in organised armed violence might be beneficial to disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programmes for child soldiers in armed conflicts, and vice-versa.

1

‘Regional’ is used here to refer to defined geographical areas within a country, rather than to refer to multinational regions.

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PUBLIC POLICY: CURRENT TRENDS IN DEALING WITH CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN ORGANISED ARMED VIOLENCE Although there are some specific examples to the contrary,1 in most countries covered by this study governments are focusing on repressive tactics to deal with children and youth in organised armed violence. Government repression may be via legislation that singles out youth groups or their members, repressive policing policies, the detention and imprisonment of group members or their summary execution. Existing state prevention and rehabilitation programmes that were encountered are often limited, under-funded, and in many cases organised armed violence is not even recognised as a specific problem by government. Rather than evaluate specific policies within a given country, this chapter presents prevalent themes and concludes with their brief evaluation, using some specific country examples where necessary.2 Repressive legislation: The most stringent example of repressive legislation employed in an attempt to treat child and youth participation in armed groups can be seen in El Salvador’s anti-maras law. Resulting from President Francisco Flores’ ‘mano dura’ policy3 and approved by the country’s legislative assembly on October 9, 2003, the anti-maras law was designed to “establish a spatial and temporal regime for the combat of known groups such as the maras and pandillas.”4 In this context, temporary5 legislative changes were brought into place that reclassified any crimes committed by members of a mara or pandilla in order that they be given harsher prison sentences; they also made it illegal for a person of any age to belong to a mara or pandilla. Criteria for defining members of a mara or pandilla outlined in the antimaras law included people that: meet regularly; identify themselves by hand signals; have tattoos or scars; or demarcate out territories as their own. On February 16, 2004, the government of El Salvador presented a second anti-gang bill to the legislative assembly. Also temporary, it included the following legislative changes: Prison sentences of 3-6 years for membership of a mara or pandilla with the recommendation that the maximum penalty be given to jefes (Art. 5 Pertenencia a una mara o pandilla); Mara or pandilla-related graffiti in public places to result in a 3-6 years imprisonment6 (Art. 11 Danos especiales); and all anti-maras laws to be applicable to all members of maras or pandillas over 12 years of age (Art. 2 Ambito de Aplicacion). Although eventually removed from the bill, Article 23 stipulated that the judiciary would be unable to substitute or suspend prison sentences, sign judicial pardons or give conditional sentences in any cases 1

See ‘Building resilience through prevention and rehabilitation interventions’ Examples from countries not involved in the study but also affected by problems of youth armed violence are also included where relevant. 3 known as ‘iron fist’ in English 4 “Judges denounce El Salvador anti-gang law”, 20/10/03, www.coav.org.br 5 Legislative changes originally had a limit of 180 days. 6 This is in contrast to the penal code that stipulates a 90–180 day public service work detail for the offence of painting graffiti in public places. 2

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covseven to 15 years for minors that commit homicides.8 Following the ruling of the Supreme Court that such a bill would be unconstitutional, the UN pressured the government to revoke the bill,9 and on August 30 President Antonio Saca announced a new plan which included prevention and rehabilitation measures.10 The new project was the outcome of a series of discussions held between the government and violence specialists regarding what repressive measures are in line with international law.11 The bill was passed. However, at the time of completing this report (December 2004), prevention programmes included in the law had still to be included in the government’s budget for 2005.12 Legislation outlining differential legal treatment for members of pandillas, maras and street gangs is also prevalent in other countries, including Honduras, Guatemala and the United States. In Honduras, the government has approved a new law that includes 12-year prison sentences for the jefes of the country’s maras.13 Countries within Central America have also joined forces: in January 2004, via the signing of the “Joint Gang Declaration”,14 the governments of El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua agreed that pandilleros from any of the four countries can be arrested within their borders. In the United States, a court-ordered action ruled by Superior Court Judge Fredrick H. Bysshe in June, 2004, declared that members of the Colonia Chiques gang in Oxnard, California, face arrest and incarceration if they are caught gathering together, wearing their ‘colours’, or staying out after 10pm within a 6.6-square-mile enforcement zone. Of the estimated 1000 members of the gang, 44 had been detained due to the court order by August 15 of the same year.15 In May of 2004, Senators Hatch (Republican, Utah) and Feinstein (Democrat, Calfornia) introduced a bill to the US Senate16 under which people could be arrested and sentenced to death for ‘participation in a gang’. Under the proposed legislation, three people acting together could be considered a ‘gang’.17 At the time of completing this report (December 2004) the bill had not been passed. Repressive and reactive policing: Government attempts to combat organised armed violence via repressive, reactive and increasingly militarised policing tactics within areas affected by this problem are common to almost all countries included in this study. For example, police action in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas, where drug factions are a heavily armed presence, focuses upon reactive repression rather than pre-emptive and community based protection. The police are neither a constant nor a regular presence in favelas, instead relying on mili7

“New Anti-gang law touches off political dispute in El Salvador”, 26/04/05, www.coav.org.br ‘End of El Salvador anti-gang law does not guarantee young people’s rights’, 26/07/04, www.coav.org.br 9 “United Nations calls for repeal of anti-gang law in El Salvador”, 09/06/2004, www.coav.org.br) 10 ‘El Salvador proposes “Helping Hand” for gang members’, 13/09/04, www.coav.org.br 11 Ibid 12 “‘Maras’ y pobreza, lo urgente en el plan Saca, Jornal El Faro.Net, 27/12/2004.” 13 ‘Honduras seeks 12-year prison terms for gang leaders’,16/07/03, www.coav.org.br and ‘Honduras proposes death penalty for young gang members’, 27/08/04 14 ‘Central American presidents join forces to fight gangs’ 26/01/04 by www.coav.org.br 15 ‘Judge favours a way out for gang members’, 15/08/04, Los Angeles Times 16 Gang Prevention and Effective Deterrence Act 17 ‘US Senate debates expanding death penalty and creating federal “gang” crimes’ published on 03/05/04 by www.coav.org.br 8

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tary tactics of ‘invasion’, ‘occupation’ and a system of roadblocks around the community’s edge at times of crisis.18 Within the favela policemen are encouraged to use heavy-handed and ‘shoot-first’ tactics.19 Although not an official policy, it is clearly understood by the police and stated publicly by government officials that killing drug traffickers is acceptable practice. When asked to comment on the killing of five alleged drug traffickers in the Complexo da Mare favela in Rio de Janeiro, the State Secretary for Public Security, Anthony Garotinho, said, “Whoever chooses to be a criminal chooses their own path. Criminals are criminals…they were serious drug traffickers. There is no discussion with these people.”20 Commenting on recent rebellions by inmates at Rio de Janeiro’s maximum security prison Bangu 1 the previous year, Rio’s Mayor Cesar Maia said, “If I was the governor, I would order [the police] to invade Bangu 1 and kill.”21 Also commenting on the rebellion, the then State Secretary for Public Security, Josias Quintal, said “If someone has to die, they [prisoners] must die.”22 At the beginning of 2004, El Salvadorian youths being deported from the United States were being arrested on arrival if they ‘appeared’ to be pandilleros. El Salvadorian law states, “when a Salvadoran arrives in the country as a deportee and based on a criminal record, appearance or conduct it is determined that the deportee belongs to a gang, the agent will detain the deportee and turn him or her over to a justice of the peace within 24 hours.”23 Following a police crackdown to deal with growing violence and insecurity in the area, Colombian youth from the Charco Azul neighbourhood of the Agua Blanca district in Cali denounced human rights abuses by the police including cases of torture, assassination, attacks on local youth, physical and psychological abuse and “the creation of a system that considers the elimination and torture of young people as a legitimate means to fight crime and resolve the persistent social problems of the district and the city.”24 The FBI in the United States declared gangs a matter of ‘national terrorism’25 and in Salinas, California, Mayor Caballero also labelled gang violence as ‘terrorism’ worthy of attention and investment from the Homeland Security Department, the agency created to combat terrorism in the country after 9-11.26 In July 2003, a report27 from the Honduran Ministry of Defence referred to youth gangs as a ‘national security problem’, and called for 18

Dowdney 2003: 78-81 Cano’s work has shown that “the incidence of homicides by police [in the favela] is six times higher than in asphalted (non-favela) areas of the city” despite the fact that the police are statistically less likely to be injured or fatally wounded by gunfire within a favela than in other areas of the city. (Cano, Ignacio, “The Use of Lethal Force by Police in Rio de Janeiro”, ISER, Rio de Janeiro, 1997, pg.64-65) 20 ‘Solução de Garotinho para enfrentar bandidos: matá-los’, 23/01/04, www.estado.com.br/agestado/noticios/ 2004/jan/23/122.htm 21 ‘Só resta ao Rio sonhar com a novela de Manoel Carlos’, 26/02/03, www.primeiraleitura.com.br/auto/ entenda.php?id=815 22 Ibid 23 ‘Salvadorian youth deported from USA are arrested upon arrival’, 08/01/04, www.coav.org.br 24 ‘Colombian youth speak out’, 30/09/03, www.coav.org.br 25 ‘FBI says gangs are “national terrorism”’, 15/01/04, www.coav.org.br 26 ‘Californian city debates ‘state of emergency’, 28/01/04, www.coav.org.br 27 “The Armed Forces in the Fight Against Organised Crime, Drug Trafficking and Common Delinquency” 19

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“joint coordinated actions between the Armed Forces and government agencies to strengthen national security strategies”.28 In Jamaica, the army has been used to police inner-city urban communities on a number of occasions. For example, after a rise in gang violence that left 20 people dead in Kingston during June 2003, the army was called in to patrol particularly hard-hit areas, such as Mountain View. This included the establishment of night-time curfews for the local population.29 Detention and imprisonment: The detention and imprisonment of minors, sometimes without trial and often within adult prison populations, is a common trend among governments attempting to deal with the problem of children and youth in organised armed violence. For example, following the approval of the anti-mara law by El Salvador’s legislative assembly, and as a direct result of its implementation, 11,263 pandilleros were arrested and detained by the police in a five month period.30 Of this total, 5,671 were accused of crimes ranging from murder to acts of terrorism, and the remainder were charged directly under the anti-maras law. By August 2004, 17,900 alleged pandilleros were arrested under the mano dura plan, minors accounting for 15% of this total. The majority were released due to lack of evidence.31 In Honduras, an estimated 1,500 pandilleros, the majority accused of being leaders, were arrested and detained by the authorities following the introduction of legislation that allows for prison sentences of up to 12 years for being a jefe.32 In Guatemala, young people suspected of being mareros [gang members] due to their clothes, haircuts or tattoos are detained by the police;33 as a result of the police’s ‘Operation Broom’ 300 mareros were arrested there in the first week of August, 2003.34 In the municipality of Rio de Janeiro between 1980 and 2001, the number of minors arrested for drugs-related offences rose by 1340%,35 an indication of both the increasing numbers of minors involved in drug trafficking and the government’s focus on detention of those drug traffickers arrested; of the 537 cases of minors arrested in Rio de Janeiro between October and September 2002 that were considered serious enough to warrant detention, 236 (43.9%) were detained for drug trafficking offences that did not involve acts of violence.36 Detention would also seem to be the chosen method of treatment for juvenile offenders in South Africa, where a staggering 73,000 young people are currently locked-up within the juvenile justice system.37 28

‘Salvadoran, Honduran and Guatemalan authorities admit that juvenile gangs are international organisations’, 22/07/2003, www.coav.org.br 29 ‘After rise in gang violence, Jamaican army patrol inner-city streets’, 01/08/03, www.coav.org.br 30 Civil Police statistics compiled for the period between October 9, 2003, and March 17, 2004, Carranza., Marlon, “Detention or death: where the ‘pandillero’ kids of El Salvador are heading” (2005), Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas / Instituto Universitario de Opinión Pública (IUOP), at www.coav.org.br. 31 ‘El Salvador proposes “Helping Hand” for gang members”, published on 13/09/04 by www.coav.org.br 32 ‘Honduras proposes death penalty for young gang members’, 27/08/04, www.coav.org.br, relating to the reforming of Article 332 of the Honduran Penal Code. 33 ‘Guatemala proposes special youth law’, 13/08/04, www.coav.org.br 34 ‘Guatemala to adopt repressive measure to combat crime wave’, 19/08/03, www.coav.org.br 35 Dowdney 2003:120 36 Human Rights Watch, “Verdadeiras masmorras”: detenção juvenil no Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Volume 16, No. 7(B), p18-19, 2004. 37 ‘Breaking the juvenile court system mould’, 11/08/4, www.coav.org.br

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In addition to often arbitrary detentions and imprisonments, in a number of countries minors involved in organised armed groups are tried in adult courts as opposed to legally stipulated juvenile courts, and consequently imprisoned amongst adult populations. For example, in September 2003 a 15 year-old boy tried to commit suicide whilst being held in the Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail after being convicted in a robbery and rape case that will send him to prison for 45 years.38 In March 2004, there were 79 inmates sitting on death row in the US who had been convicted of offences committed whilst they were still minors, some for firearms and gang-related offences.39 Despite the fact that 38 states in the country refuse to execute juvenile offenders,40 the US was the only member of the United Nations Human Rights Commission to vote against a child rights resolution calling for the abolition of the death penalty for minors. All 52 other participating countries from Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia voted in favour of the resolution, with no abstentions.41 The US has executed more juvenile offenders since 1990 than the rest of the world combined.42 In the Philippines children in conflict with the law are often treated as adults within the criminal justice system. Although there are special rules for the handling of children in conflict with the law in the Philippines,43 in practice some children are jailed with adult crime suspects and subjected to rape, torture, tattooing and other abuses.44 Amnesty International has denounced the death sentences of at least seven child offenders in the Philippines.45 In addition to courts failing to uphold legislative rules for the special protection of children, in some countries affected by organised armed violence government representatives and judicial bodies are currently calling for an end to the juvenile justice system altogether for certain children. Proposed legislation that aims to lower the age of penal responsi38 39

‘American Tragedy: US teenagers held in adult prisons’, 03/10/2003, www.coav.org.br ‘Child executions on the way out?’, 01/10/04, www.coav.org.br

40

‘US Senate debates expanding death penalty and creating federal “gang” crimes’ published on 03/05/04 by www.coav.org.br 41

‘US opposes abolishing death penalty for minors’, 24/0404, www.coav.org.br

42

‘Child offenders face death in the Philippines’, 15/10/03, www.coav.org.br

43

As provided for in the “Presidential Decree 603” and the “Child and Youth Welfare Code”, and more recently in the Republic Act 8369 or the “Family Courts Act”. In 2002, the Philippine Supreme Court approved child sensitive rules of court namely: the “Rule on Examination of Child Witness” and the “Rule on Juveniles in Conflict with the Law”, see Camacho., Agnes Z.V. & Puzon, Marco P. & Ortiga, Yasmin P., “Children and Youth in Organised Armed Violence in the Philippines: Contextualisation, Personal Histories and Policy Options” (2005), Psychosocial Trauma and Human Rights Program Centre for Integrative and Development Studies University of the Philippines, at www.coav.org.br. 44 Amnesty International, Philippines: A different childhood: the apprehension and detention of child suspects and offenders. See also “Coalition Call for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to Stop the Unlawful Discrimination by the Police Against the Children of the Poorest of the Poor” by the Coalition to Stop Child Detention Through Restorative Justice, circulated by email December 21, 2003, see Camacho., Agnes Z.V. & Puzon, Marco P. & Ortiga, Yasmin P., “Children and Youth in Organised Armed Violence in the Philippines: Contextualisation, Personal Histories and Policy Options” (2005), Psychosocial Trauma and Human Rights Program Centre for Integrative and Development Studies University of the Philippines, at www.coav.org.br. 45 Amnesty International, Philippines: Something hanging over me. Child offenders under sentence of death, 2003.

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bility of members of recognised armed groups is not confined to El Salvador. In Honduras, the President of Congress, Porifirio Lobo Sosa, told the press in August, 2004, that he intended to introduce a measure to approve the death penalty for young pandilleros: “We are considering the death penalty for underage gang members that rape, rob, assault, extort and kill…the current law protects them.”46 In Brazil and Colombia there have also been moves toward lowering the age of penal responsibility due to the increasing involvement of minors in armed violence. In March, 2003, there were 14 proposals circulating the Chamber of Deputies in the Brazilian government to reduce the penal age from 18 to 16 years.47 A poll by the Brazilian Organization of Lawyers found that 75% of lawyers support such a reduction in age for both trial and sentencing.48 In his opening speech to the Forum on Youth and the Armed Conflict, held in Bogota on July 23, President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia said that his government would seek to include lowering the legal minimum age for incarceration from 18 to 15 years in planned judicial reforms.49 In great part due to complaints from civil society organisations, at the time of writing this report (January 2005) these reforms had still to pass Congress. In Nigeria during 2004, there were calls to modify Nigeria’s Child Rights Act, in accordance with Sharia Law (Islamic legal code), so that a young person could be tried as an adult for criminal offences at 18 or when they reach puberty, whichever comes first. The age would drop to 15 years in criminal cases involving sex and adultery, guilty verdicts for which may carry sentences of flogging or death.50 The Child Rights Act was in part the result of a May 2003 study that uncovered several disturbing practices in the juvenile court and detention systems; the National Human Rights Commission, Constitutional Rights Project, UNICEF and Penal Reform International found that nearly one-fifth of incarcerated children were between eight and 12 years of age, and that a large number of minors were tried without legal representation and detained with adults, often for minor offences. Despite the passage of the Act, according to social development advocate Charity Manzuche, “children are still detained in prisons and police stations, often with adults, over minor misconduct offences.”51 Death and Summary executions: Minors are being killed by state forces both as the result of repressive police and military actions, and due to deliberate summary executions. For example, in Honduras a total of 59 children and youths under the age of 23 were murdered in Honduran detention centres between May 2002 and March 2004. Local NGOs allege that 41 of these victims were extra-judicially executed by agents of the state and ten by other gang-members also in detention.52 At the Honduran prison farm El Porvenir, 68 adult inmates (35 of them between 18 and 23 years) were killed by prison guards and army reinforcements during a riot that a government investigation later found to be a massacre.53 46

‘Honduras proposes death penalty for young gang members’ published on 27/08/2004 by www.coav.org.br ‘Punishing poor children’, 25/03/04, www.coav.org.br 48 ‘Brazil debates tougher sentences for youth accused of crimes’, 27/11/03, www.coav.org.br 49 ‘Colombian President wants to lower minimum penal age to 15’, 06/08/03, www.coav.org.br 50 ‘Religion and Child Rights’, 04/08/04’, www.coav.org.br 51 Ibid 52 ‘59 youth murdered in Honduran jails during Maduro administration’, 07/04/04, www.coav.org.br 53 ‘Prison fire illuminates aggressive anti-gang program in Honduras’, Hugh Dellios, Chicago Tribune, 23/07/04. 47

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The state’s original explanation had been that members of the Barrio 18 gang had started a riot which caused a fire that led to the victims’ deaths.54 The day before leaving his position, the former Attorney General, Roy Medina, formally accused 51 people – mostly from the police and military – as suspected authors of the killings.55 Less than a year later, a fire in Cellblock 19 of the Centro Penal de San Pedro Sula prison, where members of Mara Salvatrucha 13 were being held following tough anti-gang legislation, killed 104 inmates. Prison guards had allegedly refused to open the gate after smoke was seen billowing from the cell and some survivors claim that shots were fired to stop prisoners escaping.56 Following her visit to Brazil in 2004, Asma Jahangir, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, reported that victims of police violence and summary executions tend to be young afro-Brazilian males between the ages of 15 and 19 years who are often involved in criminal gangs. Her report documents cases where the police have killed young people in favelas with impunity and often without any provocation by the victim. An increase in the number of deaths as the result of police actions is also noted: 521 civilians were killed in confrontations with the police in greater Rio de Janeiro during the first 5 months of 2003, compared with 900 during the whole of 2002.57 Largely due to armed confrontations with gang members and other armed youths, police in Chicago have also been accused of killing more people on the street than courtordered executions. Between 1990 and 1998 the police in Chicago shot 505 people during police actions, of which 123 died.58 In Los Angeles, according to the testimony of former police officer Raphael Perez, 90% of the officers assigned to the LAPD’s CRASH (Community Resource Against Street Hoodlums) units that were established in 1997 to deal with gang-related crime, routinely falsified evidence.59 The World Organisation Against Torture reported that in Ciudad Bolivar, Bogotá, Colombia, 850 children and adolescents have been assassinated in the last five years and 620 were abducted between August 2003 and August 2004. Criminal and armed groups related to the conflict as well as the National Police force are cited as being among those responsible.60 In 1986, an Americas Watch Report, Human Rights in Jamaica (1986), concluded that there existed in Jamaica: “a practice of summary execution by the police; a practice of unlawful detentions by the police at times accompanied by police assaults on detainees; and a practice of confining detainees in police station lock-ups under squalid and degrading conditions.” In 2001, Amnesty International reported that these practices continue.61 54

‘59 youth murdered in Honduran jails during Maduro administration’, 07/04/04, www.coav.org.br Ibid 56 ‘Prison fire illuminates aggressive anti-gang program in Honduras’, Hugh Dellios, Chicago Tribune, 23/07/04. 57 ‘Victims of police violence in Brazil tend to be Afro-Brazilian males between 15 and 19 years of age, says Asma Jahangir’, 21/04/04, www.coav.org.br 58 ‘The Los Angeles police scandal and its social roots’, D. Knowland & G. Nebbia, 14/03/00, source: www.wsws.org/ articles/2000/mar2000/lapd-m14_prn.shtml 59 Ibid 60 OMCT, Colombia: Caso COL 271004.CC_DERECHOS DEL NINO (ejecuciones extrajudiciales en Ciudad Bolívar) 61 Amnesty International, “Killing and Violence by Police: How many more victims?”, 10/04/2001. 55

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Photograph 4.1 – Police Operations in the Morro da Providência, Rio de Janeiro Carlos Moraes / Agencia de Notícias O Dia / 27.09.04 In the first photograph (left) police officers from CORE (Coordenaria de Recursos Especiais) are photographed by a journalist from a helicopter whilst arresting an unarmed adolescent (C.M.S., 16 years) and an unarmed youth (Luciano Gustavo Sales, 24 years) suspected of shooting at police. The second photograph (right) in the sequence shows police offers carrying the body of one of the suspects out of the favela. Both suspects were killed and their bodies taken by police to Souza Aguiar Hospital, where they were declared dead on arrival. The initial report from the Forensic Medical Institute (Instituto Medico Legal) indicates that the two victims were shot from above and at close range, at a distance of approximately one meter. The evidence suggests that the two were executed. The police involved in the incident have been suspended and at the time of publication the case was under investigation (Rio Report: Police Violence and Public Insecurity, Justiça Global, Rio de Janeiro, 2004 / Ataque a helicóptero: reação, fuga e execução, O Dia, 28.09.04).

Amnesty notes that during the 1990s the police shot and killed an average of 140 people per annum62 ; given the manner in which deadly force is frequently employed and the absence of prompt, thorough and effective investigations, this is consistent in many instances with a pattern of extrajudicial executions.63 In February, 2003, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions visited Jamaica, concluding that the system for investigating potential extrajudicial executions by police officers appeared to be “wholly inadequate and marred by a number of institutional obstacles and by a lack of resources” and that extrajudicial executions appeared to have occurred.64 These included the 62

The population of Jamaica is around 2.6 million, making this a notably high number of police victims. Ibid. 64 Amnesty International, Jamaica Report (2004), http://web.amnesty.org/report2004/jam-summary-eng. 63

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killings of 10-year-old Renee Lyons on July 25, 2003, who was shot dead by police in Majesty Gardens, Kingston, and 15-year-old Jason Smith, who was killed in July 2002; in December 2003, a coroner’s court jury ruled that the police officers responsible for the fatal shooting of Jason Smith should be held criminally liable and charged with murder.65 Prevention and rehabilitation programmes are limited, under-funded or non-existent: The few examples of successful government prevention or rehabilitation interventions encountered during this study are presented in the following chapter. As the examples below demonstrate, the majority of state prevention and rehabilitation programmes identified by researchers tended to be limited in scope, funding and support. In El Salvador during 1999, the National Council for Public Security (Consejo Nacional de Seguridad Publica – CNSP) began to implement policies for the prevention of violence and delinquency. With a territorial focus on areas deemed to suffer from risk factors related to violence, the basic principle of the programme is that delinquency is generated by a number of factors and therefore the prevention of violence must also be multifaceted. After school study programmes for local children, investment in infrastructure, building community-police relations, cultural and sports programmes for children and youths, job training programmes and night-time activities for youths and medical services are some of the programmes instituted by CNSP in chosen communities as part of the programme. Despite some indications that violence prevention has been successful within communities where CNSP’s programme has been established,66 during interview César Rivera, Research and Technical Director of the Social Prevention of Violence and Delinquency project at CNSP, stated that within government there is no unified understanding of violence prevention. Mr Rivera said that the theme of violence prevention has not been given sufficient support within the country, resources and policy instead being focused on repressive programmes such as mano dura. As a direct result of gun violence between armed groups in Nigeria, the Federal Government introduced a policy to destroy surplus and confiscated guns. In July 2001, the first government coordinated gun destruction of seized weapons took place,67 followed by a second gun destruction in July 2003. In the Niger Delta the governor, James Ibori, introduced a buy-back programme that targeted youths by offering cash rewards, vocational training and employment opportunities for handing in firearms. According to interviewees that participated in the programme, however, it has had limited success due to a failure on be65

Ibid. See “Deporte para todos, Del sueño a la realidad”, http://www.elsalvador.com/deportes/2002/7/19/ depor14.shtml, and “Casa Comunal en la Tutunichapa II: Una alternativa para combatir la violencia” http:// www.elsalvador.com/noticias/2003/05/16/nacional/nacio7.html, and “¡A estrenar se ha dicho!”, http:// www.elsalvador.com/deportes/2002/7/22/depor15.shtml, and “Experiencia inolvidable en vida de menores Previenen violencia con urbanidad”, http://www.elsalvador.com/noticias/2003/11/02/nacional/nacio3.html. 67 Including 428 rifles, 494 imported pistols, 287 locally made pistols and 48 Dane-guns (smooth bore flintlock guns). See “Implementing the programme of action 2003: Action by states and civil society”, Biting the bullet project, IANSA 2003, see Ibrahim., Mohammed, “An Empirical Survey of Children and Youth in Organised Armed Violence in Nigeria: Egbesu Boys, OPC and Bakassi Boys as a Case Study” (2005), Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), at www.coav.org.br. 66

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half of the government to follow through on promises made to those who handed in their weapons. This led to a lack of trust amongst youths that may have potentially participated in the programme and only 40 participants have so far been recorded.68 In Ecuador, when asked about government prevention and rehabilitation programmes for child or youth pandilleros, the Director of Rehabilitation for the National Coordination of the Protection of Minors from the Ministry of Social Welfare,69 Raul Casares, told researchers that “we [the Ministry] do not have a programme at the level of prevention or reinsertion, etc., that I know of.” In Brazil, implementation of cultural, sports or educational projects within the juvenile justice system has generally been limited to partnerships between state government and NGOs. This has had an extremely limited affect; despite the quality of many of these projects, they are not implemented uniformly and a limited number of detainees get access.70 Child and youth involvement in organised armed violence is not recognised as a specific problem by government and consequently there are few specific policies to treat it: With the obvious exception of El Salvador and other principally South and Central American countries that have designed primarily repressive policies to tackle the problem of child and youth involvement in armed groups, governments of a number of countries involved in this study either do not acknowledge the existence of the problem, or do not consider it serious enough to warrant a specific policy. For example, in Ecuador the Director for Citizenship Security for the Municipality of Quito,71 Lorena Vinueza, asserted that “…all in all the use of firearms by youths is not an important problem in Quito” and that from her perspective, “…it is not a problem that has much effect on the city’s security.” The Director of Rehabilitation for the National Coordination of the Protection of Minors from the Ministry of Social Welfare, Raul Casares, however, told researchers that nationally 60% of adolescents detained within the juvenile justice system committed an offence that included a firearm. This statement by Mr Casares complements the fact that from a randomly selected group of 12 respondents from naciones in Guayaquil, eight had witnessed fellow members killing another human being by gunfire, and five had already killed another person with a firearm. In Colombia, jefes of paramilitaries interviewed for this study estimated that up to 60% of armed personnel within the paramilitaries are youths or children under 18 years of age. Based on estimates of 10,000 armed personal within armed groups in the city,72 this would account for 6,000 minors and youths. Despite this, the needs of minors are not being considered in the city’s demobilisation process, the Proyecto de Reincorporacion a la Civildad. During the original negotiations between BCN (Bloque Cacique Nutibara) and 68

Ibid. Jefe de Rehabilitación de la Dirección Nacional de Protección de Menores del Ministerio de Bienestar Social. 70 “Sistema de justiça juvenil brasileiro é reflexo da exclusão social”, 06/09/04, www.coav.org.br 71 Directora Metropolitana de la Dirección de Seguridad Ciudadana del Municipio de Quito. 72 See Ramirez., Ivan, “Medellin: The Invisible Children of the Social and Armed Conflict” (2005), Coalición Contra la Vinculación de Niños, Niñas y Jóvenes al Conflicto Armado en Colombia, at www.coav.org.br 69

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the government, the subject of armed minors was not broached by either side, yet when 850 of BCN’s armed members demobilised on 25 November, 2004, there were 43 minors among them. Furthermore, despite clear links between paramilitaries and bandas delincuenciales,73 neither adults nor minors from bandas delincuenciales can be considered for the demobilisation programme since they are considered ‘criminal’ rather than ‘political’. Consequently, members of the bandas are subject not to the peace process, but to the penal code. Consequently, demobilised ‘child soldiers’ from Medellin’s urban paramilitaries are sent to centres run by the ICBF74 for reinsertion into society and/or returned to their families where possible. Children arrested for participating in banda delincuentes, however, even though they may effectively be under the control of a paramilitary group, will be treated punitively as delinquents by the juvenile justice system. Similarly to the situation in Medellin, in the Philippines the government has very clear guidelines for the demobilisation, rehabilitation and reinsertion of child soldiers from armed opposition groups considered to be political, such as the the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the New People’s Army (NPA).75 Despite the fact that interviews carried out for this study clearly demonstrate that some CVOs are involved in military operations with opposition groups such as the MILF,76 it is unclear whether children in CVOs are covered by the above noted existing legislation designed to protect child soldiers, or whether they, like children from the bandas delincuenciales in Medellin, would be treated as young offenders in conflict with the law. **** Evaluating current trends in public policy In some cases, police repression of armed groups and their members appears to have been an effective method of treatment. For example, as part of Mayor Giuliani’s ‘zero tolerance’ policy in New York City during the 1990s, police tactics of arresting gang leaders apparently succeeded in destroying the infrastructure of newly formed street gangs selling crack-cocaine. This coincided with a drastic drop in the city’s firearms-related homicide rates. While drug sales continued to stay high in poor neighbourhoods, violence dropped and ‘crews’ that organised drug selling in the 1990s have ceased to operate.77 73

Of the 10 respondents from armed groups in Medellin interviewed for this study, at the time of interview six were working directly for urban-based paramilitaries, and four for bandas delincuenciales controlled by or under the dominion of paramilitary groups. All of the six minors interviewed working for paramilitaries at the time of interview, were originally in bandas delincuenciales that were taken over by paramilitary groups. 74 Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar 75 Such as the 1991 Republic Act 7610 and government’s Framework for a Comprehensive Programme for Children Involved in Armed Conflict, and the inter-agency Memorandum of Agreement in the Handling and Treatment of Armed Conflict signed by the military, police and relevant government agencies. 76 As noted in ‘Armed violence’, one of the CVO respondents in the Philippines was killed before fieldwork for this study was completed during an armed confrontation between the MILF and government troops made up of CVO’s, soldiers, and CAFGU. 77 See Hagedorn., John M, “Institutionalised Gangs and Violence in Chicago” (2005), University of IllinoisChicago, Great Cities Institute, at www.coav.org.br.

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Hagedorn suggests that police repression was successful in combating gang violence and drug dealing in New York due to the fragmented, corporate and transient (i.e. noninstitutionalised) nature of the gangs within East Harlem and elsewhere. In Chicago, similar ‘zero tolerance’ tactics have been unable to dismantle gangs that have institutionalised over more than fifty years. Other structural and policy issues also appear to be important; while Chicago has been uprooting public housing tenants, New York city has invested over $6 billion over the last decade in affordable public housing in the Bronx and other poor neighbourhoods affected by high levels of violence. These policies stabilised poor neighbourhoods, while Chicago’s housing policies disrupted them.78 New York’s policy of repression, therefore, may have been successful due to the transient nature of the armed gangs it was dealing with, and the fact that repression was in fact coupled with social investment in the most affected areas. Undoubtedly, New York was also undergoing an economic boom during the 1990s that helped to make more jobs available.79 When social investment and a healthy economy are not present and repression is employed by government as a focal or solitary policy to treat armed groups, it is limited in its effectiveness and even counterproductive in some situations. The reasons for this are listed here: Repressive tactics are ineffective in the long-term because they do not treat the root causes of the problem: As discussed in earlier chapters, this study has identified a number of external risk factors as being causal and/or contributory to the emergence and continued existence of the investigated armed groups. This study has also identified a number of risk factors and influences that are causal and/or contributory to children and youth ‘choosing’ to join those armed groups. State repression, whether legislative or via police action and summary execution, does not serve to eliminate these risk factors. Neither does it provide other options and influences to young people so that they may respond to these risk factors without joining a local armed group. If state actions rely solely on repression the types of armed groups investigated will continue to exist, and children and adolescents will continue to have reason to join them. There are two problems with prevention programmes that have resulted in government being unwilling to invest in their implementation. Firstly, due to their methodological nature they tend to be more successful in the long-term, and secondly, it is difficult to evaluate their success in clear or quantitative terms. Governments that may only be in power for one term are reluctant to implement programmes that invariably take longer than this to show results that may be difficult to quantify. Although they may have a less profound affect on organised armed groups in the long-term, repressive tactics have a more immediate and quantifiable impact: it is easy and effective to show a voting public that there are more police on the streets, more arrests and more incarcerations of gang members. Lowering the age of penal responsibility is contrary to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international child protection mechanisms: A reduction in the age of penal 78

Ibid 52,800 jobs were created in New York between January - October 1997. See “New York’s Economy: Miracle Needed”, The Economist, 20/12/97.

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responsibility has yet to be successfully implemented in any country. However, the increasing occurrence of proposed legislation with this aim points to a trend amongst some governments to legally consider some under 18 year-olds as adults, despite the fact that this is contrary to Article 1 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989); a convention that has been ratified by all countries in which this trend is occurring. Those calling for a reduction in the age of penal responsibility are usually careful to define a specific group for the application of any such legislation, such as pandilleros in El Salvador for example. As the groups highlighted by any such proposed legislation are invariably poor and socially marginalised, the poor are increasingly criminalised, incarcerated and ultimately executed ‘legitimately’ by state forces. Lowering the age of penal responsibility would not be an effective policy due to inadequate facilities in many penal and juvenile justice systems: In many of the countries covered by this study, prison systems are overcrowded, violent, have poor facilities and often contain inmate populations divided by the very gangs and groups incarceration is designed to separate inmates from. Juvenile detention centres are often little better. In April 2004, the World Organisation Against Torture expressed its concerns regarding the failure of both judicial and other responsible authorities to react promptly to allegations of ill-treatment or torture of children in police facilities, detention centres and other public institutions around the world.80 Brazil is a particularly bad example of this. A study by the Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA) found that 79% of youth detention facilities in Brazil do not reach the minimum hygiene, medical, legal, educational and physical infrastructure standards set by the United Nations. 81 During a visit to Brazilian youth detention centres in São Paulo, Asma Jahangir82 reported that hundreds of adolescents were locked up all day long in cells, sitting on concrete floors and maintained in a state of complete inactivity.83 Things are so bad in youth detention centres in Brazil that Rio de Janeiro’s state public defender’s office discovered 18 adolescents that had lied about their age in order to be kept in adult prisons as opposed to undergoing ‘rehabilitation’ in youth centres.84 According to Human Rights Watch, juvenile detention centres in Rio de Janeiro are overcrowded, filthy and violent, and are unable to guarantee, in almost any aspect, the protection of the human rights of the youths detained.85 In such conditions detainees have little chance of recuperation. Their prolonged and arbitrary incarceration may even serve to worsen the situation in the long-term, as following maltreatment, torture and proximity to fellow group members, many inmates return to society less prepared for social reintegration and more prone to criminal behaviour than when originally detained. 80

‘OMCT denounces failures to curb violence against detainees across the world’, 23/04/04, www.coav.or.br. ‘Brazilian youth detention centres are branches of hell’, 18/09/03, www.coav.org.br. 82 UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial and Summary Executions. 83 ‘Judges want immediate changes to youth detention facility’, 03/11/03, www.coav.org.br. 84 ‘Brazilian youth detention centres are ‘branches of Hell’’, 18/09/2003, www.coav.org.br. 85 Human Rights Watch, “Verdadeiras masmorras”: detenção juvenil no Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Volume 16, No. 7(B), p18-19, 2004. 81

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An alternative sentencing project86 for juvenile offenders in São Paulo, where the government is working in partnership with civil society groups, is proving to be successful. While the average for juvenile offenders in closed facilities was 18%, the project had a rate of 11% in 2004.87 It’s worth noting that re-offending rates for adult offenders in closed facilities can reach up to 60% in some states.88 Depending solely on repressive tactics against armed groups may even exacerbate the problem: A constant and community-based police presence in areas dominated by the types of armed groups investigated here is fundamental to decreasing their power base and lessening gun violence. However, depending solely on reactive and repressive policing tactics often results in armed groups becoming more highly organised and more violent in response. For example, El Salvador’s repressive mano dura policy does not seem to have been as effective in decreasing violence as the government intended. Between January and September of 2004, a period beginning three months after the initiation of the mano dura policy, according to police statistics there were 2,000 homicides in El Salvador. This gave a projected rise in homicides for the whole of 2004 compared with 2003, when there were a total of 2,338 homicides recorded.89 Repressive tactics against children and youth stimulate the death and summary execution of minors: Government pursuit of policy for the treatment of children and youth in organised armed violence that includes special legislation, repressive policing tactics, mass and arbitrary detentions and a low focus on prevention and rehabilitation, sends a clear message to state security forces that children and youths in criminal and armed groups are not deserving of the special protection afforded to children by international conventions and even national legislation. This message, combined with state failure to react to allegations of ill-treatment, torture and killing of children and youth by states actors, serves to stimulate the practice of summary executions of primarily poor children and youth by state employees, especially the police. Government failure to design and implement specific policy for the prevention and rehabilitation of children and youth in organised armed violence similar to that for children in armed conflict is counterproductive: As noted above, in some of the countries covered by this study child soldiers are being reinserted into society via demobilisation projects, while children from similar armed groups considered to be ‘criminal’ as opposed to ‘political’ are being punitively treated by the juvenile justice system. With such a perspective, the definition of a child or youth and that of the group to which they belong defines the treatment they will receive upon apprehension. Solely punitive treatment of child and adolescent offenders that lacks the provision of psycho-social treatment to ensure rehabilitation on release has been shown to have a limited effect on re-offending. Investment in adult prisons 86

Redescobrindo o Adolescente na Comunidade (RAC). www.desafios.org.br. 88 “A Comoção Não Pode sobrepujar a Razão” Floresta News - 20/12/2003 www.florestanews.com.br. 89 ‘Number of homicides up in El Salvador’, 15/11/04, www.coav.org.br. 87

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and juvenile detention facilities is fundamental if offenders are to be rehabilitated. In addition to the correct psycho-social programmes for detainees, these facilities cannot continue to be internally divided by the authorities along gang, faction, or mara lines. **** Recommendations for policy are made Part VI.

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BUILDING RESILIENCE THROUGH PREVENTION AND REHABILITATION INTERVENTIONS As noted earlier,1 to truly treat the problem of children and youth in organised armed violence it is necessary to eliminate the external risk factors identified as causal and/or contributory to both the existence of armed groups, and those situations in which children ‘choose’ to join them. However, eradicating these risk factors is a lengthy and complex process and a serious challenge for governments and organised civil society alike. In the short-term and concurrently to any such long-term strategy, local interventions must concentrate on helping children and youth in affected areas become more resilient and less vulnerable to joining an armed group. Although eradicating identified risk factors will take time, in the short-term giving children and young people the tools to respond to those risk factors in a manner that doesn’t involve joining an armed group may be a more immediately effective strategy. Researchers from all countries involved in this study evaluated government and civil society prevention and rehabilitation projects and programmes that were designed specifically to treat the problem of children and youth in organised armed violence or, due to their proximity to the problem, could be considered relevant to its treatment. Some interventions that are considered good practice are presented here,2 and then evaluated using a risk factor and influence versus response table in order to help understand how they are effective. One of these good practice models is then focused upon in order to demonstrate how a single intervention can build resilience amongst children and youth in a high-risk environment by affecting personal contexts in relation to a number of locally identified risk factors and influences. Community based prevention and rehabilitation interventions Although more often by accident than design, in many cases community-based prevention and rehabilitation are similar processes. This is not to say that prevention and rehabilitation projects should use identical methodologies. However, the ‘choice’ to join an armed group and the ‘choice’ to leave one are both responses to similar risk factors and are guided by similar influences and options. There follows a brief presentation of community-based prevention and rehabilitation projects and programmes identified by this study to be good practice interventions. Operation Ceasefire is a state funded ‘detached worker’ intervention coordinated by the University of Illinois-Chicago School of Public Health that works with community, city, state and federal partners to reduce street violence, shootings and killings. The project works in neighbourhoods that have a strong gang presence and account for a large percentage of the city’s homicides by implementing the following eight-point strategy: strong community coalitions; a unified message – “No shooting”; mediation and intervention in all conflicts; rapid response to all shootings; alternatives and linkages for most at-risk persons; safe 1

See ‘Vulnerability and resilience: why children choose to join armed groups’ A more detailed presentation and analysis of each project presented here may be found in country specific chapters in this publication or in country specific reports available online at www.coav.org.br.

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havens and programs for youth; penalties for gun use and gun trafficking; and ensuring prosecutions. The project utilises a public health strategy and between June 2001 and December 2002 referred 902 ‘clients’ to school (256 persons), work (346 persons), substance abuse programs (205 persons), and mental health services (149 persons). Focusing on prevention and the root causes of street violence, the project does not depend on retaliatory force and directors claim that there has been a reduction in shooting incidents in all the neighbourhoods where the project is present. www.ceasefirechicago.org Fight for Peace or Luta Pela Paz is a Viva Rio project established in 2000 in the favela of Complexo da Mare in Rio de Janeiro, a community dominated by rival drug factions. The project’s mission is to offer local children and youths alternatives to crime and employment in the drug trade through sports, education, life-skills training, promoting a culture of peace, access to the formal labour market and the development of youth leaders. The project uses boxing, capoeira and wrestling to attract adolescents and youths to join, and offers an integrated and personalised five-point plan for each participant in the project based on the above activities. In addition to preventative action the project has also rehabilitated adolescents and youths that have left drug faction employment back into the formal work market. The project emphasises youth leadership and the coordination team now includes youth that were originally project beneficiaries and are now paid members of staff. There are currently 150 participants in the project and since its establishment over 400 young people have been directly involved. The project also houses a sports academy that has 100 paying adult members from the community thus ensuring partial financial self-sustainability and the integration of community residents into the project’s ideals and objectives. During 2004 the project began to work with municipal government in Resende3 in the design, implementation and coordination of an alternative sentencing programme for children in conflict with the law. www.lutapelapaz.org.br The Afro Reggae Cultural Group (GCAR) was established in January 1993 as an offshoot of Afro Reggae Notícias – a newspaper that sought to value and divulge Black culture, particularly to youth involved with reggae, soul, hip-hop, etc. In 1993, the group inaugurated the first Community Cultural Nucleus in the favela of Vigário Geral in Rio de Janeiro. This was the beginning of a series of socio-cultural projects and workshops involving dance, percussion, waste recycling, football and capoeira.4 Afro Reggae offers young favela residents cultural and artistic education and training, in order that they can develop as full citizens and escape from the path leading to drug trafficking and under employment. Youth participating in the project become multipliers, encouraging and training other favela youth. In 1997, Afro Reggae inaugurated the Vigário Legal Afro Reggae Cultural Centre, which has become a reference in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Currently, the centre develops diverse programmes and projects in four different communities. www.afroreggae.org.br Homies Unidos is a non-profit gang violence prevention and intervention organisation with projects in El Salvador and Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1996 in San Salvador and formally began operating in the United States in 1997. Homies Unidos is a community-based organisation committed to developing creative alternatives to youth violence and 3 4

Medium size town in Rio de Janeiro state. Brazilian dance and martial art form.

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drugs through access to alternative education, leadership development, self-esteem building, and health education programs. Homies Unidos’ commitment is to mobilise and support youth at risk. It coordinates and forms strategic alliances with a multitude of national and international organisations to strengthen humanitarian and community efforts, promoting and publicising their prevention and educational work through public relations as well as through the news media. www.homiesunidos.org Movimiento No Mataras was established in 1998 by young members of two rival bandas in Medellin. Named after the fifth commandment, ‘Thou shall not kill’, the founders invited the Catholic Church to participate and accompany the programme that invites participants to make a life change based on the principles of non-violence and reconciliation. The programme focuses on children and youths in armed groups and delinquency in Medellin. No Mataras is active in 18 neighbourhoods through the establishment of local ‘life cells’ (celulas de vida) made up of men, women and adolescents between 14-40 years of age. There are currently 300 members in the programme and over 1500 have been involved since 1998. The project utilises three lines of action: prevention work in schools; didactic courses on conflict resolution and human rights; and protection and training of youth in imminent danger of death. The project has been successful in helping children to leave organised armed groups and crime through a programme that promotes participation as opposed to violence, and deconstructs society’s consumerist values which it sees as a principal causal factor for the involvement of children and youth in crime and organised armed violence. Proyeto Pandillas: una apuesta por la esperanza is run by the civil society organisation CEFOCINE in the suburbs of Guayaquil, Ecuador, and focuses on converting pandillas into constructive youth groups capable of generating opportunities and processes for social participation. The group targets young members of pandillas, or those that it considers at risk of involvement, between 13 and 20 years of age; there are currently 387 youths in three suburban neighbourhoods participating in the project. Through group meetings the project aims to create the necessary levels of communication and development for participants to construct positive life projects. Proyeto Pandillas focuses on youths as protagonists for social and personal change in order that they have a better understanding of their potential as capable people with much to offer society. www.cefocine.org Community-Based Diversion Program for Children in Conflict with the Law5 is an alternative sentencing pilot programme coordinated by the Free Rehabilitation, Economic, Education and Legal Assistance Volunteer Association (FREELAVA) that works with children in conflict with the law (CICL) in Cebu City, Philippines. The programme trains and organises community volunteers that help to construct individually-designed psychosocial interventions for CICL. Volunteers are made up of parents of CICL, government and school officials and social workers and to date 100 volunteers have been trained. CICL are placed under the custody of their family and accompanied by the volunteer during their fulfilment of an individually-designed rehabilitation programme that may include counselling. CICL that complete the programme successfully have gone on to become peer facilitators. 5

http://www.unicef.org/philippines/archives/november_04/real/

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FREELAVA believes that this community-based approach is more effective than residential care and to date 400 CICL have been on the programme. Through the involvement of ‘duty bearers’ in the community the project has been successful in: preventing children from entering the formal justice system if they have only committed minor offences; preventing children from re-offending; and facilitating the reintegration of CICL into the community. Although this programme does not work with young CVO members, it demonstrates the kind of methodology that could be successfully used within the Philippines to reintegrate child CVO workers. Strategic Thinking Leadership Training for Youth is a Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) project in Benin City in the Niger Delta, Nigeria. The project was initiated as the result of consultative meetings with local stake holders such as NGOs and human rights activists working with youth and violence, and a roundtable meeting with youths from six geopolitical areas. The leadership course aims to contribute toward the construction of a ‘critical successor generation’ in order to work toward peace in the region. Participants undergo training in ‘personal empowerment’, leadership skills, community organisation, conflict management, peace building, information technology and management skills. The course also focuses its participants on inclusion in the political process through interaction with government policy-makers responsible for policies affecting youth development. 100 youths have been trained on the course since it was established resulting in a growing youth network for peace and development in the Niger Delta. Although this project does not work directly with youth from ethnic-militia or vigilante groups in the region, it is a good example of the kind of project that could be used to rehabilitate armed youth by giving them the necessary skills and opportunities to become youth leaders and protagonists for positive social change. www.cddnig or www.cdd.org.uk Ecotherapy is a programme coordinated by the National Peace Accord Trust (NPAT) in South Africa. The NPAT was established as a result of the National Peace Accord, an agreement signed in 2001 by key players during the political transition of the country including faith-based organisations, political structures, security forces, and commercial and labour interests, with the aim of promoting peace. Ecotherapy was originally designed to promote the psycho-social healing of former combatants and militarised youth who had been exposed to high levels of violence during the struggle for democracy, many of whom had subsequently become involved in crime and drug use. Rather than criminal rehabilitation, Ecotherapy’s work is based in mental health methodologies, and uses the outdoors as a setting for urban youth to undergo a de-contextualised analysis of the self. The programme mixes victims, perpetrators, troubled youth and well-adjusted young people, and takes groups of 12-20 people of both sexes between the ages of seven and 20 years-old into the wilderness for between three and 14 days. No two ecotherapy ‘trails’ are the same as the setting and content are adapted to the participants needs. During the trail, group therapy and individual counselling take place. A de-briefing is used to help participants make sense of the experience. Evaluations demonstrate that Ecotherapy can be extremely effective. An independent academic study6 located 125 former participants of the programme and made the 6

See http://www.irct.org/usr/irct/home.nsf/unid/JREW-5MSCSL?Open.

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following findings: subjects’ participation in crime decreased from 83% before the trail to 19% at the time of the study; there was a decrease of substance abuse by subjects from 65% to 22%; symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder decreased from 97% of subjects to 30%; involvement in committed relationships up from 49% of subjects to 70%; part-time, fulltime or self-employment of subjects up from 0% to 72%.7 The August Town Sports and Community Development Foundation in Jamaica uses football to provide young people aged eight to 20 with the skills to avoid becoming involved in, or the means to leave behind, violence. Young boys and men participate in two football teams, as well as in conflict resolution classes, human rights education and life skills building. The Foundation has helped to send young leaders, both men and women, to university and groups of community members for conflict resolution training in the US. Foundation leader Kenneth Wilson has been instrumental in the calling of a truce between rival areas and gangs in what was one of the city’s more violent communities and in instituting community policing in the area. The results of these efforts in August Town are encouraging. There has been a 50% decrease in murders and a 56% decrease in crime in the area since community policing began.8 Children First in Jamaica works with over 700 street children and potential street children in the city of Spanish Town aged three to 18. Children First is an inclusive initiative that seeks to improve the lives of not only at-risk children but also their families. Parents receive help in how to supplement family income. Children benefit from skills training, life skills education including sexual and environmental education, and educational assistance including help with fees and other initiatives. In the face of the recent problems involving armed violence in Spanish Town, Children First is now focusing on the connections between violence and local socialisation processes of boys and young men. Institutional rehabilitation programmes In some cases, such as when a minor is found guilty of an offence, rehabilitation of children and youth in organised armed violence will need to take place within an institution. As discussed in ‘Public policy: current trends in dealing with children and youth in organised armed violence’, in most countries involved in this study juvenile justice detention facilities are inadequate for successful rehabilitation and even detrimental to this process. The following two good practice examples demonstrate that it is possible to have affordable institutions that can successfully rehabilitate juvenile offenders. El Polígono Industrial Don Bosco9 was established in El Salvador by the Catholic Church in 1988 and offers educational, training and work alternatives for children and youth in conflict with the law (alternative sentencing by child courts), at-risk youth (including the voluntary entrance of pandilleros) and street children. At the time of this study the programme 7

Ibid. While violence returned in 2001, escalating into ten political murders in 2002, the truce has since held, with no deaths in recent local elections. 9 www.ilo.org/public/spanish/region/ampro/cinterfor/temas/youth/exp/observa/e_salv/donbosco.htm. 8

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was housing 87 minors between 14-18 years of age, all of whom undergo an extremely busy daily schedule between 06:00am and 10:00pm comprising of work placements in companies, academic education and sport. Work placements take place in 8 small businesses including a bakery and a furniture building and restoration workshop. The programme’s objective is to prepare youths for the work market or self-employment. Residents mix regularly with members of the local community who follow courses at the centre. They receive a personalised programme designed for their needs and undergo an internal review every three months that includes meeting with family members. The cost of one resident is estimated at $240 per month10 and the programme has shown positive results: between 20022003 the centre estimated only a 15% re-offending rate amongst ex-residents. Rehabilitation of residents is considered complete only when they are self-employed partners in small businesses. The programme stresses being trained for and successfully participating in an economic alternative as a more important indicator for rehabilitation than traditionally accepted notions of ‘psychological’ or ‘behavioural’ change. Balay Pasilungan is a transition centre in the Philippines for children released from prison or leaving one of the insurgent armed groups involved in the conflict. Established by FREELAVA in 1997, the centre has housed over 1,000 children, the majority of whom are between 13 and 15 years of age, and prepared them to return to their families and communities. Balay Pasilungan is run like a household in which its residents are not treated like delinquents but encouraged to participate in the running of the centre and are involved in the performance assessment of the staff. Residents are allowed to participate in local community activities and encouraged to interact with local youths and policemen. Residents at the centre participate in values formation, skills enhancement, educational courses, computer literacy, sports, music, work internships, apprenticeship programmes and socio-cultural activities. Some residents at the centre have gone from being children in conflict with the law to advocates for the rights of children in conflict with the law, working for a more humane and child sensitive justice system. Child and youth led programmes The Convention on the Rights of the Child stipulates that children should have access to information, venues for expressing their thoughts and opinions, and to consultation regarding matters that directly involve them, whether at the level of the family, school, church or the larger community. Involving children and youth in the design, implementation and coordination of prevention and rehabilitation programmes is an important step to ensuring success. Notable examples of this include Fight for Peace in Rio de Janeiro that includes its youth participants in evaluation and coordination of the project, and in the design and implementation of an alternative sentencing programme currently being established in partnership with municipal government in Resende, a city in Rio de Janeiro state. A number of youths currently working in the project’s coordination team were originally beneficiaries of the project who had previously worked for the local drug faction. This change 10

ISNA (Instituto Salvadoreño para el Desarrollo Integral de la Niñez y la Adolescencia) estimates an average cost of US$ 300 per month to keep a young offender within the juvenile justice system.

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clearly demonstrates that given the correct influences and options youths can be rehabilitated from armed workers to productive citizens who work to promote peace. Other notable child led programmes visited by researchers include the Kids for Peace Movement and the Pag-asa Youth Movement in the Philippines. Kids for Peace was started by students in Cotabato City and campaigns for peace, the distribution of relief goods to children in evacuation centres, and the involvement of other children in the peace movement. Since its establishment, Kids for Peace has obtained the support of the Church and other civil society organisations. The Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office in Lanao del Norte (Southern Mindanao province) facilitated the establishment of the Pagasa Youth Movement which is comprised mostly of out-of-school youth considered as those most vulnerable to recruitment by armed groups. The movement has proved to be an effective prevention mechanism, securing funding for skills-based, leadership and livelihood training for out-of-school youth. Risk factors, influences and responses: evaluating good practice Table 2.1 ‘External Risks and Influences’ demonstrates how joining an armed group offers children and youths growing up in high-risk environments a way to actively respond to prevalent risk factors. Table 2.1 also lists the kind of influences identified by this study that encourage young people to ‘choose’ joining an armed group in response to such risk factors. The above good practice prevention and rehabilitation projects and programmes are as diverse methodologically as they are geographically. However, they are all similar in one regard: their success (albeit varying) is related to their ability to give children and youth the ability to respond to external risk factors through options that do not involve participation in an armed group. In addition to providing sufficient options, really successful projects also provide important influences for children, in the form of mentors for example, that further facilitate their decision to actively respond to risk factors without joining a local armed group. Diagram 4.1 gives examples of how the above-noted projects enable young people to respond to each of the identified risk factors without joining an armed group, and presents the kinds of influences that these projects offer to counterbalance those pre-existent influences that can encourage young people to join armed groups. Affecting personal contexts to build resilience Although to differing degrees, it is clear from the above good practice projects that in most countries involved in this study it has been possible to prevent some children and youths in areas dominated by armed groups from joining those groups, and rehabilitate some who were already involved. By giving sufficient options and influences to children and young people, successful prevention and rehabilitation projects are in effect changing the personal contexts of their participants in order that they have the choices and support necessary to become more resilient to joining armed groups. As demonstrated by some of the above good practice projects and programmes, in order to successfully build resilience amongst children and young people the following factors are important. 161

Diagram 4.1 Responding to External Risk Factors and Influences

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Prevention and rehabilitation projects need to be community based or linked to the community: Young people join armed groups in the communities in which they grow up. Consequently, prevention and rehabilitation projects must also focus at the community level if they are to be effective. Prevention and rehabilitation projects must respond to local risk factors and influences: Successful interventions must give children and young people the chance to respond to external risk factors and influences that are prevalent in their environment. Completing a local diagnosis that includes talking directly to children and youth in organised armed violence, similar to those carried out in the countries involved in this report, will greatly aid the design and successful implementation of prevention and rehabilitation interventions. Prevention and rehabilitation projects need to be integrated and personalised: Very few of the above projects or programmes give children and youths sufficient options to respond to all or even most of the identified risk factors. Instead, projects tend to focus on offering participants options to respond to one or two risk factors, such as low access to education or unemployment. However, the most successful prevention and rehabilitation projects are those that offer integrated alternative responses to all or most external risk factors. These projects tend to be more personalised, offering slightly adaptable programmes for beneficiaries rather than sticking to an inflexible methodology. This is important because even children in seemingly similar situations will have varying personal contexts and therefore different needs. Prevention and rehabilitation projects must include sufficiently strong counter- influences: Very few of the above projects offer counter-influences to all or most of the identified influences that encourage young people to join an armed group. This is especially important as many of the armed groups investigated are a dominant force within the community and even highly valued by local youth culture. This tends to increase their attractiveness to potential recruits despite the dangers of joining. Strong positive role models are important to offer young people different models of success. Prevention and rehabilitation programmes must involve immediate family members: A considerable number of children and youth working for armed groups that were interviewed for this study mentioned the involvement of family members in an armed group as a decisive factor in their choosing to participate. However, interviewed adolescents that had made a decision to leave an armed group, or not join it in the first place, had also mentioned advice and support from family members as being crucial to making such a decision. Prevention and rehabilitation programmes should integrate involved and non-involved children and youth: It is fundamental that specific programmes for children and youth in organised armed violence are designed for this target group. However, both prevention and rehabilitation projects should integrate non-involved youths with those on the periphery of organised armed violence or those that are in the process of leaving a particular armed group. As discussed in ‘Area of study profile’, areas dominated by the armed groups investigated tend to be poor, socially and economically marginalised, and often suffering from state-sponsored violence or high levels of violence between rival groups. As a result, all children and youth in such areas will benefit from the kind of prevention programmes outlined above regardless of whether their personal context is more or less likely to facilitate their joining 163

of an armed group. Furthermore, children and youth on the periphery of organised armed violence and those leaving armed groups need to be integrated with non-involved young people in order for them to experience different realities. Isolating involved or semi-involved children and youth will limit potential success for both prevention and rehabilitation programmes. Education must be combined with access to the work market to allow for upward mobility: Most investigated armed groups have a hierarchical command structure and/or offer a way for young people to make money. Although it is undeniable that true financial success in these groups is often more idealised than real, and rising through the ranks is undoubtedly a dangerous path, the possibility of such personal growth within investigated armed group’s structures does exist. In comparison, a number of respondents from armed groups commented on the fact that they had not wanted to follow their parents into what they considered to be ‘dead end jobs’. It is important, therefore, that prevention and reintegration programmes offer education in addition to economic alternatives so that, should a young person choose, upward mobility within the formal work market is a real possibility. Successful rehabilitation may not always involve disassociation with the group: A number of the investigated groups, especially youth groups such as the maras and pandillas in Latin America, and some coloured street gangs in South Africa, do allow members to cease active involvement. For example, the El Salvadorian pandillas offer members the chance to continue their affiliation with the group but to ‘calmarse’, or to no longer be actively involved. In such situations, it may be more productive for rehabilitation projects to concentrate on ways for members to ‘calmar’ rather than to completely disassociate from their group. For example, The Project for Leadership Training coordinated by SERPAZ in Ecuador, demonstrates that in some cases it may be possible for projects to utilise existing group structures, emphasising their positive aspects, in order to work directly with group members and channel them into productive activities. Prevention and rehabilitation projects should involve affected children and youth in project design, implementation and coordination: Community-based prevention and rehabilitation projects should involve affected local children at the design, implementation and coordination stages. Facilitating the creation of youth leaders is an effective way to create local role models. Rehabilitation projects should involve psychological support for post-traumatic stress disorders: As demonstrated by respondents’ testimonies in ‘Children, youth and armed violence’, almost all interviewed children and youth involved in the study have witnessed torture and killings, suffered physical and mental abuse, been injured by gunfire, taken part in armed confrontations and killed others. The ‘ecotherpy’ programme is the only good practice project outlined here that offers direct psychological support for the kind of posttraumatic stress associated with these kinds of experiences. This may have directly aided the programme’s successful rehabilitation of child soldiers into society and could serve as a model for programmes that rehabilitate children and youth in organised armed violence. Strengthen existing projects: As demonstrated by the diverse projects presented above, local prevention and rehabilitation interventions do exist. As opposed to starting new local initiatives, wherever possible government and donors should harness the effectiveness of existing community-based projects by strengthening their ability to deal with the problem. 164

Fight for Peace: a good practice model The following diagram shows how one community based project can affect participants’ personal contexts sufficiently for them to respond to all or most environmental risk factors without working for the local drug faction. The model also shows how the project provides sufficiently strong influences to facilitate this process. This diagram outlines the working methodology of the Fight for Peace (Luta Pela Paz) project in Rio de Janeiro (see next page). Through this integrated and personalised methodology, Fight for Peace has successfully prevented children and youths from entering the local drug faction, and rehabilitated others that have chosen to leave. Using sports or culture (as is the case for other successful out-reach programmes) has shown to be an extremely successful method of reaching those children and youth already involved in organised armed violence. A fuller presentation of the project’s methodology may be found at www.lutapelapaz.org.br. Conclusion Those projects that offer young people the chance to respond to all or most identified risk factors, as opposed to one or two, will be more successful at both preventing involvement and rehabilitating young people from organised armed violence. Furthermore, those projects that include sufficient counter-influences to locally-occurring influences that encourage young people to join armed groups will have an even higher chance of success. However, even the most successful local interventions must be part of larger municipal or regional strategic programmes if they are to be truly effective. Strategic programmes must also be integrated with macro policies and programmes that aim to eliminate macro risk factors. Although the above types of projects can successfully prevent children from joining armed groups, and even rehabilitate those already involved, they do not treat the root causes of either why the groups exist, or why children and youth ‘choose’ to join them. To really ‘treat the problem’, these root causes must be addressed. Strategic approaches are briefly discussed in the following chapter.

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Diagram 4.2 Fight for Peace´s Working Methodology

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INTEGRATED STATEGIC APPROACHES FOR THE PREVENTION AND REHABILITATION OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN ORGANISED ARMED VIOLENCE This chapter briefly presents some integrated strategic approaches to dealing with children and youth in organised armed violence. This concludes with the presentation of a possible model for a municipal or regional1 prevention and rehabilitation programme. Strategic approaches should be municipal or regional as localised projects may only displace violence to neighbouring areas: In order to be successful, integrated, localised and personalised projects that build resilience to participating in armed groups amongst children and youth should be part of municipal or regional prevention and rehabilitation strategies. Although community-based and localised projects are necessary to deal with the differing adaptations of organised armed violence at the local level, failure to have a municipal or regional strategy to deal with the problem wherever it occurs may lead to this type of armed violence being displaced rather than eradicated altogether. An example of this can be seen in Chicago where Operation Ceasefire is generally credited with the 67% drop in shootings between 2000 and 2001 within West Garfield Park,2 a neighbourhood where several interviews for this study took place and that is home to the rival Black Gangster Disciples and the Conservative Vice Lords. Despite this impressive reduction of gun violence in one neighbourhood, however, levels of violence within the city as a whole were not reduced during this period.3 Strategic approaches should be based on local analysis: As with community based prevention and rehabilitation interventions, municipal or regional strategies to deal with children and youth in organised armed violence should be based on research that analyses the local manifestation of the problem. This may involve completing similar research programmes to those completed for this study within specific countries or cities (see ‘Methodology’). Strategic approaches should be coordinated jointly by government, the police and civil society organisations: With the exception of Operation Ceasefire in Chicago, all grass-roots and community-based projects visited during the completion of this study that worked directly with children and youth in organised armed violence were coordinated by nongovernmental organisations. Until now government in most of the countries involved in this study have been unwilling or unable to work with this target group at the community level. Strategic approaches should focus on both community-based interventions that build resilience of children and youth in high-risk environments, as well as instituting effective 1

‘Regional’ is used here to refer to defined geographical areas within a country, rather than to refer to multinational regions. 2 See Hagedorn., John M, “Institutionalised Gangs and Violence in Chicago” (2005), University of IllinoisChicago, Great Cities Institute, at www.coav.org.br. 3 Ibid.

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rehabilitation programmes in closed institutions. The creation of a co-ordinating council consisting of key civil society organisations, government bodies and the police would ensure the necessary integration for the design, implementation and coordination of any successful municipal or regional prevention and rehabilitation programme. Strategic approaches should be integrated with macro programmes that aim to directly treat structural and environmental risk factors: In addition to building resilience amongst children and young people in high-risk areas, municipal or regional prevention and rehabilitation strategies will be more effective if integrated with existing government programmes that aim to eliminate the existence of identified risk factors. Integrating with larger programmes that work to eradicate these risk factors would be a more effective strategy than only working to build resilience amongst affected children and youths. For example, Operation Ceasefire in Chicago successfully integrates safe havens and opportunities for atrisk youth with community-level policing. Thus, the programme is concurrently building resilience and promoting the constant preventative and protective presence of state security forces in areas affected by organised armed violence. Strategic approaches should involve the juvenile justice system: As discussed in ‘Command structure’, armed groups within eight of the ten countries involved in this study have strong links to inmates within the adult prison system. Furthermore, incarceration and detention was a common experience for most of the children and youth interviewed and seen as an occupational hazard by many. Despite youth detention centres and prisons being a common port of call for most members of the armed groups investigated, in most countries included in this study these institutions do not have adequate rehabilitation programmes. Furthermore, abusive treatment, detaining minors in adult facilities, overcrowding and dividing inmates in juvenile and adult detention facilities in accordance with their membership to specific armed groups, often makes the juvenile justice and adult penal systems counterproductive in terms of rehabilitation. Considering that during detention is the only period that armed group members are in prolonged contact with state representatives, it is crucial that rehabilitation projects are successfully instituted within these systems. In addition to institutional rehabilitation, there is growing evidence that alternative sentencing programmes are a cost effective way to deal with child and youth offenders involved in armed violence and other crimes. In the US, Project Craft United States4 is a public/private partnership that works with private juvenile and corrections facilities, juvenile judges, juvenile justice system personnel, education agencies, community-based organisations, and other human service agencies. It is a “hands-on” community service training project that teaches industry-related skills and reinforces worker skills and positive attitudes to at risk youth. So far the project has placed 89% of participants in employment. Integration of state and civil society services and access to community aftercare programmes have been instrumental in ensuring that youth offenders make a successful transition back into their communities. Another example is Jobs for a Future5 , which is a comprehensive 4 5

For more information see http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/ojjdp/fs99116.pdf http://www.jff.org/jff/

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employment service that provides job training and placement, free laser tattoo removal, mentoring and other support services to enable youth to stay employed and further their education. The project also offers referrals to community-based programmes (including drug and alcohol counseling and parenting classes), and new clothing appropriate for the workplace for those released from probation facilities. Strategic approaches should include conflict resolution where possible: Working directly with members of armed groups, be they youths or adults, is a difficult yet possible strategy. Negotiating truces between armed groups, creating neutral ground for members or even bringing leaders of opposing groups together is often necessary if prevention or rehabilitation programmes are to be effective. The following examples show how conflict resolution with the target group is possible. The Project for Leadership Training (Proyeto de capacitacion en liderazgo) is coordinated by SERPAZ, a non-governmental organisation in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and works directly with leaders of 17 pandillas and naciones from six urban areas in the city. Through training the project aims to construct a culture of peaceful conflict resolution amongst leaders. Project methodology includes transparency and honesty in all actions and relationships, the recognition and respect of the lifestyles and knowledge of participants, and a focus on the positive aspects of group involvement such as graffiti artwork, music and pandilla dress. Project activities include: conflict resolution training; graffiti courses and the painting of public ‘peace murals’; music competitions; radio airtime for positive stories regarding pandillas; and the creation of small businesses for participants as an alternative income source. The project has resulted in dialogue and peaceful accords between rival pandillas and naciones, recognition by local school authorities as to the seriousness of the problem, space within the media for positive stories about pandillas and naciones, the establishment of trust between rival groups, financial support from private enterprise for the project and the creation of communication channels between leaders of pandillas and naciones and public institutions and civil society groups. Neutral Ground Youth was the first pilot project of Chicago’s Street-Level Youth Media programme that created a series of video letters between rival street gangs that had never spoken face to face. This resulted in a dialogue about identity between the gangs and led to the brokering of a temporary truce between opposing factions. The project also taught the community to see gang members as real human beings trapped in a life-threatening position. The project has now developed into a drop-in centre and webzine for young people from Chicago’s west side. Street-Level Youth Media partnered with municipal government in 2001 and created job programmes that have paid out over $80,000 in youth salaries. The programme has diverse programmes that aim to educate Chicago’s inner city youth in media, arts and emerging technologies for use in self-expression, communication, social change and inclusion. In 2001 more than 1,800 young people participated in the programme. http://streetlevel.iit.edu/ In the Philippines a two-decade family feud involving rival pagali was brought to an end via the brokering and signing of a peace and development treaty known as the Maladeg Peace Zone. Signatories included the two families, leaders of the MILF and MNLF, the 169

Chief of Police and a Colonel in the Philippine army. The peace zone is led by a committee of elders from different clans that are responsible for the peaceful mediation of lido and any violators of the treaty are imprisoned. Any outsider of the Peace Zone that has lido or family feuds may find sanctuary in the zone if they renounce violence and no longer support relatives outside still involved in the lido. This treaty has stopped armed conflict within the zone between armed groups and CVOs that are used by pagalis and important families as private armies. In a number of cases, armed groups have attempted to establish contact with governments in order to start dialogue, or vice-versa. For example, in January 2005, 4800 detained pandilleros signed a letter sent to Oscar Bonilla, President of the El Salvadoran National Public Safety Council. The letter stated that they would cease violent activities if the government would provide fairer treatment. Representatives of the detained pandilleros said that the letter was an act of “good faith” and that “with this letter we are letting the government know that we are willing to change, but they need to support us rather than marginalise us. This change is for our own good, for the good of our families, for society.”6 Division 16 Police Chief in Guatemala City, Hugo Blanco Divas, met with 150 pandilleros in December 2004 in order to agree on a non-aggression pact. A gang member present at the meeting said, “we want to tell society that we have rights as human beings, and that we only want the right to work.” Blanco said that he had decided to meet with the group to show that the police are truly interested in gang members leaving crime behind.7 Strategic approaches should include protection programmes: In all countries involved in this study, leaving an armed group is a potentially risky and lethal choice. Even if group rules dictate how and when members may leave safely, there are always inherent dangers for children and youth to leave armed groups. For extreme cases in which child or youth members are in mortal danger upon leaving, protection programmes that guarantee their protection and relocation should be established. No such programmes were encountered during the completion of this study. However, interviews with involved children and youth clearly demonstrate the need for safe strategies for the most at-risk members to leave. Strategic approaches should include advocacy and network building: Advocating for the recognition of the plight of children and youth in organised armed violence, as well as their inclusion in national and international child protection agendas, mechanisms and legislation, is fundamental to the successful treatment of the problem. This has been happening increasingly although, as noted earlier, children in organised armed violence are generally viewed by governments as delinquents to be removed from society through detention. This is especially the case when the media erroneously portrays young people in gangs and other armed groups as being responsible for the majority of violent crime. For example, in 2000, young people between ten and 18 years of age made up 12.5% of Rio de Janeiro’s population, yet were responsible for only 1.5% of the city’s homicides, and 1.7% of robberies in which violence or the threat of violence was employed. Despite this fact, and largely as a result of the media’s presentation of youth as ‘violent’, in a 2003 poll held by Folha de São 6 7

“Gang offers peace in exchange for fair treatment”, 03/01/05, www.coav.org.br. “We have rights and we want to work”, 16/12/03, www.coav.org.br.

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Paulo, a major Brazilian daily newspaper, 84% of respondents said they supported lowering the penal age of responsibility to 15 years.8 The media have an extremely important role in shaping public and government opinion; if the problem of children and youth in organised armed violence is to be treated, the media’s portrayal of those involved must be based in fact and sensitive to the need for prevention and rehabilitation programmes. Examples of media based advocacy tools that have worked in publicising the plight of children and youth affected by and involved in organised armed violence includes: www.coav.org.br is an international daily-updated news service in three languages (English, Spanish and Portuguese) coordinated by Viva Rio in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, that went on-line in July, 2003. The website aims to chart the problem of children and youth in organised armed violence, provide current information, share solutions and raise awareness. In October, 2004, the site recorded 10,929 visits and 203,218 hits, and the bi-weekly electronic newsletter was sent to 7,959 registered subscribers. As the result of an active marketing strategy, the site is increasingly being used as an information source by journalists, academic researchers, child protection agencies and government. The non-governmental organisation Casa Alianza that operates in Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Mexico, has been extremely effective in raising awareness amongst the international community of abuse and extra-judicial killings of children and young people, many of whom have been killed due to being members of pandillas and maras. Through the use of an e-mail service, an average of four news bulletins are sent out each month to 8,900 Spanish and 11,245 English-speaking readers, the majority of the latter being from Europe and the United States. CRIN – Child Rights Information Network, disseminates information about the Convention on the Rights of the Child and child rights amongst non-governmental organisations, United Nations agencies, inter-governmental organisations, educational institutions, and other child rights experts. Established in 1995, CRIN services the information needs of 2,500 organisations and individuals who have joined the mailing lists providing daily newsletters by e-mail. CRIN also has a membership of more than 1,400 organisations in over 130 countries. About 85% of the members are NGOs; and 65% are in Africa, Asia and Latin America. www.crin.org The Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights (ANDI) is a non-governmental organization founded in 1992 in Brazil. ANDI’s mission is to contribute to improving the quality of public information related to issues that are decisive in promoting the rights of children and adolescents. In order to accomplish this, pro-active, professional and ethical dialogue is encouraged among social actors in organized civil society and the media. ANDI acts in three strategic areas – Mobilization, Analysis and Qualification. These three areas have guided the various initiatives developed by ANDI. The institution has adopted information technologies in order to effectively organise the establishment of infrastructure and network development. This has also included information management in monitoring and media evaluation. www.andi.org.br 8

Human Rights Watch, “Verdadeiras masmorras”: detenção juvenil no Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Volume 16, No. 7(B), 2004.

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Radio UPA – “The radio of children” has worked for 13 years in El Salvador to create radio programmes that motivate, sensitise and raise awareness amongst children and adults as to the importance of humanitarian values. Their mission is to be a vehicle of expression for Salvadorian children whilst promoting positive values amongst them. Their vision is to create a society aware of the importance that children have within the community, as well as making children aware of their rights and duties. Radio UPA has the support of Save the Children Sweden and works with UNDP through the Society Without Violence Programme to promote the participation and leadership of children. http://www.radioupa.com.sv/ Building networks of international, national and local civil society organisations and agencies that are working for the protection of children and youth in organised armed violence is an important strategy for effective advocacy to take place at all levels. This has yet to take place although there are a number of child protection advocacy examples that could be effectively applied. Most notable is the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers (Coalition) which works to end the recruitment and use of child soldiers, and secure their demobilisation and reintegration into their communities. The Coalition works to achieve this through advocacy and public education; research and monitoring; and network development and capacity building through regional and national coalitions in 40 countries. The Coalition promotes a “straight-18” ban on the use of children as soldiers – a ban on all recruitment of children under the age of 18 by any armed force or group (governmental or non-governmental). The Coalition advocates ratification of the “child soldiers treaty”, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. The Optional Protocol came into force on February 12, 2002 and, in great part due to the work of the Coalition, by August, 2004, 77 states had ratified the optional protocol and 115 had signed it.9 Of those which ratified it, 58 also upheld a ‘straight 18’ position excluding any recruitment of children under eighteen years of age. www.child-soldiers.org Strategic models In summary, therefore, municipal or regional models for the prevention and rehabilitation of children and youth in organised armed violence should: • be based on analysis of the local manifestation of children and youth in organised armed violence; • strategic approaches should be coordinated jointly by government, the police and civil society organisations; • involve a network of existing community-based, integrated and personalised prevention and rehabilitation interventions that build resilience amongst children and youth in high-risk environments; • be integrated with state macro programmes that aim to eradicate structural risk factors such as poverty, social marginalisation or problems associated with law and order; • involve the juvenile justice and adult prison systems; • involve conflict resolution strategies where possible; 9

Child Soldiers Global Report, Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, 2004, www.child-soldiers.org

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• include protection programmes for young people leaving armed groups where necessary; • build local, national and international advocacy and networking mechanisms; Diagram 4.3 below presents how an integrated municipal or regional prevention and rehabilitation programme could be structured. Diagram 4.3 City / Regional Model

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DISARMAMENT, DEMOBILISATION AND REINTEGRATION: EXCHANGING KNOWLEDGE AND BREAKING BOUNDARIES When making comparisons between children and youth in organised armed violence and ‘child soldiers’1 in armed conflict, the original case study of child and youth employment in Rio de Janeiro’s drug factions (Dowdney 2003) has been important for a number of reasons: although this is not a war situation, there are currently more people (and specifically children) dying from small arms fire in Rio de Janeiro than in many low-level armed conflicts elsewhere2 ; although unlike politically-oriented armed groups found in many civil wars, Rio’s drug factions are a territorial and openly armed paramilitary presence in most of the city’s favelas; and the types of small arms and light weapons used by all sides in the daily conflicts between rival factions and the police are those also encountered in any civil conflict. Furthermore, child drug faction workers and child soldiers share a number of similarities both in their reasons for joining an armed group and their functional roles within them. These include similarities with relation to recruitment processes; age/function dynamics; working positions within a command structure upheld by rules and punishments; financial reward for services; being armed by adults and carrying out armed actions; being ‘on-call’ 24 hours a day; surviving within a kill-or-be-killed reality; and increased usage by adults for participation in armed confrontations.3 As clearly detailed in Part II, child and youth members of many of the armed groups investigated by this study also have much in common with child soldiers in more traditionally defined situations of armed conflict: all come from poor communities in which local 1

“A child soldier is any child – boy or girl – under the age of eighteen who is compulsorily, forcibly, voluntarily recruited or otherwise used in hostilities by armed forces, paramilitaries, civil defence units or other armed groups. Child soldiers are used for sexual services, as combatants, as forced ‘wives’, messengers, porters or cooks.” Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, 2000. 2 For example, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimates that between 1978 and 2000, a total of 39,000 people died as a result of the civil conflict in Colombia. In the same period, a total of 49,913 people died from small arms fire in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (DATASUS - Ministério de Saúde, Secretaria da Saúde do Governo do Estado do Rio de Janeiro). When comparing the danger posed to minors by gunfire in Rio de Janeiro with that of recognised conflict situations, the seriousness of Rio’s situation is starkly apparent. As a result of the conflict between Israel and Palestine over the occupied territories, 467 Israeli and Palestinian minors were killed between Dec.1987-Nov.2001 (Statistics supplied by the Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories). During the same period, in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro alone, 3,937 under eighteen year-olds were killed due to small arms-related injuries (DATASUS - Ministério de Saúde, Secretaria da Saúde do Governo do Estado do Rio de Janeiro). Amnesty International’s report, Killing the Future: Children in the Line of Fire (September 2002) calls for the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child to take into account that more than 250 Palestinian and 72 Israeli children were killed as a result of the conflict in the occupied territories between September 2000 and August 2002, a 23-month period. Recent data regarding firearm-related mortality rates in Rio de Janeiro, demonstrates that between February 2000 and December 2001, also a 23-month period, a total of 612 under eighteen year-olds were killed by small arms fire in the city. See Dowdney 2003:112-117, 163-173. 3 Dowdney 2003:202-209

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armed groups have a strong presence; most are school dropouts who become involved during their early to mid teens, often seeking protection, status, financial reward, survival and/ or the chance for revenge4; they carry out many non-armed and armed functions that are almost identical to documented cases of child soldiers5; and in almost all cases these young people have witnessed killings and have been involved in exchanges of gunfire (in some cases with state forces). Many have killed. Despite these similarities, using the term ‘child soldiers’ to refer to members of armed groups acting outside of armed conflicts would be both problematic and incorrect.6 However, due to these causal and functional similarities, there is much to gain from exchanging knowledge of good practice for the treatment of both distinct yet similar situations. Furthermore, such clear similarities mean that the methodology used for DDR (Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration) programmes, traditionally utilised in armed conflict or post conflict, is also applicable and necessary in non-war settings in which children and youth are involved in organised armed violence. Organisations working with DDR of child soldiers and CAAC7, and those with reintegration projects of child and youth armed group members in non-war situations have much to learn from one another. Knowledge of good practice examples of prevention, rehabilitation and DDR interventions in both situations should be exchanged and compared for the advancement of sound methodological practice and the design, development and implementation of ‘ddr’8 programmes in urban non-war situations, and making DDR programmes in armed or post conflict settings more effective.

4

In “Young Soldiers: Why they Choose to Fight” (ILO 2004), Brett & Specht note that, while war itself is the most fundamental factor, there are a number of other reasons as to why adolescents join armed groups during conflict, including: poverty, lack of education and employment opportunities, and problems in the family. 5 See: Brett, R., & McCallin, M., “Children: The Invisible Soldiers”, Radda Barnen, Second Edition, Stockholm 1998; Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers – “Stop Using Child Soldiers”, Radda Barnen, London, 1998; Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers – “Child Soldiers Global Report”, Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, London, 2000; Human Rights Watch, “Children in Combat”, New York, January 1996; Human Rights Watch, “Easy prey: child soldiers in Liberia”, New York, 1994; Human Rights Watch, “Sudan, The Lost Boys, Child Soldiers and Unaccompanied boys in Southern Sudan.”, Children’s Rights Project, New York, 1997; Human Rights Watch, “The Scars of Death, Children Abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda”, New York,1997; Machel, Graça, “The Impact of Armed Conflict on Children”, Report of the expert of the Secretary-General, Ms. Graça Machel, submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 48/157, United Nations,1996. 6 See ‘Introduction’. 7 Children affected by armed conflict. 8 The initials ‘ddr’ are written in lower case here in order to express the difference between disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programmes in situations of armed conflict and those for children and youth in organised armed groups in non-war situations of organised armed violence, the former being typically referred to as ‘DDR’ with capital letters.

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PART V – COUNTRY REPORTS MEDELLIN: THE INVISIBLE CHILDREN OF THE SOCIAL AND ARMED CONFLICT Ivan Dario Ramirez, Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers This report focuses on territorial criminal groups that operate in poor communities, or comunas, in the city of Medellin known as bandas delincuentes, that work with or are subordinate to urban-based paramilitary organisations, such as the Bloques Cacique Nutibara (BCN) and Bloque Metro, or drug-dealing groups known as narcotraficantes. The report is divided into three parts. Part One gives a contextualised summary of these groups. Part Two takes a closer look at the human face of this phenomenon, with profiles of individuals involved. Part Three examines possible solutions to the problem, with an evaluation of relevant social programmes and policies. A fulllength version of the report summarised in this chapter can be found at www.coav.org.br. Methodology Part I of this report provides a review and analysis of the literature on children and organised armed violence. To complement the theory, we also consulted with people working directly on the issue in Medellín. These included: four leaders of organised armed groups, some linked to paramilitary or AUC groups; four people who were previously involved in organised armed violence or who live in violent areas; two experts who have first-hand knowledge of these groups; and finally, two teachers who work in extremely violent neighbourhoods of Medellín. The interviews are ordered by number, but do not give names or other identifying information, as agreed with interviewees. For Part II, we used first-hand information obtained in structured and semi-structured interviews in different neighbourhoods of Medellín. We interviewed ten boys and one girl between 13 and 17 years of age, who participate or had participated in armed groups. Furthermore, we incorporated secondary information taken from texts, documents, and laws on this topic, gathered through research in specialised centres. We approached the children interviewed through people in the community or professionals working on projects in which the children were involved. We also interviewed leaders or jefes of armed groups; often these had to first get permission from their superiors, and conditioned their participation in the study on anonymity and no photos. The study is based on a non-experimental transversal design, taking information from the period between October and November 2003, and endeavours to describe the day-to-day lives of the children and young men and women involved in organised armed violence in the city of Medellín, Antioquia. For Part III, we analysed two case studies on alternative responses to the problem of COAV in Colombia, using the semi-structured interview technique. We considered the Reincorporation to Civilian Society Programme using the report ‘I Buy the War’ (Compro la Guerra), by the former mayor of Medellín, as well as texts produced as part of the project. 177

We evaluated results by interviewing a source working on the programme, who had received verbal and written reports from previous directors. With respect to the Thou Shall Not Kill Movement (Movimiento No Matarás), we interviewed several coordinators and observed one of the programme activities. We also reviewed some of the previous local government’s reports, especially those relating to the Peace and Coexistence Council (Asesoría de Paz y Convivencia). This Council was responsible for addressing urban conflict from 1994 – 2000, after which the project was discontinued. Finally, we interviewed one of the coordinators of this project. I. CONTEXTUALISED SUMMARY OF COAV Area of Study Profile: Medellín, Colombia The city of Medellín has 2,200,000 residents, distributed in 16 neighbourhoods in five zones. Within this population, 550,000 are between 14 and 26 years old; of these, it is estimated that half are under 18.1 Between 2000 and 2003, the unemployment rate dropped from 24% to 15%, though this figure does not include under-employment and employment in informal sectors. Although most children are covered by the education system in the city, in 2002 some 30,000 children were not in school. Fifty years of industrialisation have transformed Colombia from a rural to an urban country. At the same time, Medellín has undergone a different transformation: from an industrial to a service-oriented city. The poorest residents of Medellín live in densely crowded zones characterised by frequent social conflicts, including violence. In 2002 the homicide rate in Zone 1 (a poorer area with high population density) was 220 per 100,000 residents. By contrast, in Zone 5 (wealthier and less densely populated) it was 85. In September 2003 these ratios were 101 and 27 per 100,000 respectively.2 We should not assume that poverty is a cause, much less the only cause of violence. But living in densely populated zones with high proportions of youth and children has profound implications for the quality of life of families and of communities. Brief Historical Analysis The first guerrilla organisations appeared in the Antioquia region (of which Medellín is the capital) at the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s. They were first evident in areas of high economic potential and resources such as Urabá, the north-east, and the southeast. By the 1980s, the guerrilla movement had moved into and become important in certain urban areas, which they viewed as strategic logistical hubs. The appearance during the 1980s of the Movimiento 19 de April, or the M-19s, in urban areas illustrates this shift. As the guerrilla movement moved to expand and intensify their war against the state, they began to create structures, support networks and to build their potential in marginalised urban areas. During the administration of President Betancur (1982 – 1986), an important part of the guerrilla movement (FARC, M-19 and EPL) engaged in dialogue with the government and ceased hostilities. The M-19s established Peace Camps (Campamentos de Paz) in 1

Gobernación de Antioquia. Planeación Departamental. Yearly Statistics. 2000. Secretaría de Gobierno de Medellín. Unidad de Convivencia Ciudadana. Note that Zone 5 only contains Comuna 14 and Zone 1 contains Comunas 1, 2, 3 and 4. In 2002 the homicide rate in Comuna 1 was 346 per 100,000 residents and through September 2003 it was 111 per 100,000 residents.

2

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different cities around the country, including Medellín, to support the peace talks. The camps were used to foment political and military consciousness among residents of the cities. While the Peace Camps ended with the rupture of peace talks in 1985, this formation had a lasting impact on important sectors of the population, who later formed into militia groups. The militias came about in Medellín in 1988 as an extension of the guerrilla project, though they later separated from guerrilla organisations to take on their own structure and control their own territories. The growth of militia and guerrilla groups coincided with increased offensives by narcotraficantes, which may help explain the absurdly high homicide rates in Medellín, at 400 per 100,000 residents. Some of the militia groups established agreements with municipal and national governments, and finally demobilised in 1994. One such agreement allowed these forces to become a legal, armed security co-operative. The guerrillas did not demobilise in the 90s and became more distanced from the militia groups. In spite of their initial strength, they were unable to forge a lasting social movement and were unable to control the use of force within the community; some even became criminal groups. On the other hand, the accelerated growth in recent years of paramilitary groups (in opposition to insurgent groups) has affected not only rural areas and small towns, but also larger cities, where they also exercise a certain degree of social control. In the 70s and early 80s, criminal gangs could be explained in fairly simple terms, from the types of crimes they committed, to the types of firearms used and the codes and rules that guided their activities. They engaged in fist-fights, not battles; neighbourhoods were places from which to do ‘business’ but were not attacked from the outside. Later, new practices such as kidnapping, bank robberies and car theft began a process of change within these groups. But the most influential factor in the transformation of these groups was drug trafficking. Drug trafficking gave a whole new ‘status’ to criminal gangs by providing them with economic resources, better-quality and more powerful weapons, and the ability to control territories in marginalised neighbourhoods within the city. Actors Involved According to the city government, there are more than 200 armed groups3 in the city of Medellín. Police data, on the other hand, counts 400 armed groups.4 About 10,000 people participate in these groups; the majority are youths or children,5 representing 0.45% of the total population and 1.8% of the youth population. There are four key actors (not counting the state security forces) in the context of organised armed violence in Colombia today: the insurgency, paramilitary, narcotraficantes, and criminal gangs. The insurgency is composed of militia groups and urban guerrillas: the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC), the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional, ELN) and the People’s Armed Command 3

Data from 2000, Asesoría de Paz y Convivencia de la Alcaldía de Medellín. Police reports include not only the city of Medellin, but also the sub-region of the Valle de Aburrá and this may explain the difference in estimates. 5 Interviews with leaders of armed groups. 4

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(Comandos Armados del Pueblo). Membership in these groups has declined due to largescale demobilisation in 1994 and the rise of paramilitary and criminal groups. The armed forces have also contributed to reducing militia membership: for example, in May and October of 2002 more than 1,500 troops were sent to Comuna 13 in the city to forcibly remove militia groups. These groups have lost much of their territorial control and are disputing other small areas within the city. Children do participate in these groups, though they represent less than 10% of their total membership in the city.6 Paramilitary groups first appeared in Medellín at the same time as elsewhere in Colombia. Prior to the year 2000, however, their presence was quite sporadic, and they were largely unconcerned with control of territory. From 2000 on, they began moving towards the cities, obtaining money through drug trafficking and beginning to co-opt criminal gangs (many of whom were selling drugs) into their service. According to leaders of the important paramilitary groups Bloques Cacique Nutibara and Bloque Metro, they are now positioned in some 70% of the city. On the other hand, the United Self Defence of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, AUC) – the name for paramilitary groups at the national level – are in dialogue and negotiation with the government, though some, such as the Bloque Metro, are excluded. In November 2003, 850 ex-members underwent a disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programme with the government. Criminal gangs in Medellín are subordinate and structurally linked to narcotraficantes and paramilitary groups. From 2000 on, most have become associated with paramilitary groups, for which they work and provide services; gangs who do not accept this subordination may be obliged to do so by force. Most members are minors and youths, although leaders may be older than 26.7 Other smaller criminal gangs that are not part of other groups are involved in selling drugs, bank robberies, street robberies, or selling these services to others for their own personal gain. This overview highlights the complex transformations in the actors involved in organised armed violence in Medellín over time. At the end of the 80s and the beginning of the 90s militia groups were prevalent. However, criminal gangs took over between 1995 and 2000, and paramilitary groups began co-opting the gangs. Today there is a hybrid consisting of criminal gangs, paramilitary and narcotraficantes, while the militias are isolated. Command Structures Armed groups are based on their ability to control territory8 and/or their capacity to control other smaller organisations and their members. In each territory there are normally one or two gang leaders (jefes), who may also be paramilitary leaders. The jefes are the link with narcotraficantes or paramilitary groups, taking orders or striking agreements on activities within the territory. They are mostly adults, between 26 and 35 years old, and many have participated in the gangs since childhood or adolescence. It is also important to note that a signifi6

Leaders of militias and other armed groups confirm this estimate. Interview with leaders of armed groups. 8 Later in this study the importance of territory for criminal groups is discussed further. 7

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cant number of jefes and other members of criminal gangs are in prison, from where they continue to exercise control, such as ordering confrontations or establishing non-aggression pacts with other gangs.9 Relations with the Community The communities are affected on many levels: their civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights are reduced and violated. In some cases residents’ fear has given way to a certain acceptance of the armed groups due to the security they may provide, and more recently, because of their involvement in local social and political projects. Relationships between the community and armed groups range between indifference, assimilation, co-operation and tolerance – and, in very few cases, include confrontation or other forms of questioning. The armed actors, then, play a regulatory role that should be the role of the state. Interurban displacement: Families and groups of people in Medellín may feel obliged to abandon their homes and/or jobs and move to another part of the city due to the high levels of armed violence. Displacement may occur as a result of direct threats against family members, ‘confiscation’ of the property by armed groups, or in order to prevent the murder or recruitment of their children. Serious consequences include: harm to the safety and selfesteem of boys and girls; increase in costs (if the family has to rent a new house); interruption of education; and an increase in aggressive behaviour among both boys and girls, who may be projecting their fear and the violence they live with daily.10 Less access to, or interruption of, the provision of basic services: Recreation, health services, education and specialised programmes are hindered by the difficulties involved in leaving or entering the neighbourhood. Private companies and/or the state may interrupt the provision of these services because of security problems in the area.11 The relationship between conflict and education: Violence in the neighbourhood, the presence of armed groups, their control over territories, and the impossibility of moving about freely (among other factors) cause students to miss or drop out of school, and decrease their abilities to concentrate on their studies.12 The Role of the State From the middle of the 90s, the state developed a strategic security plan – part of a municipal development plan – and created the Office for Peace and Coexistence. This office specialised in understanding the violent conflicts in the city and their protagonists, even though it was isolated from other municipal policies. Furthermore, one of its proposed solutions to militia violence was the creation of the notorious Vigilance and Security Cooperative (Cooperativa de Vigilancia y Seguridad, COOSERCOM), a precursor to the 9

Report, Alcaldía de Medellín, Asesoría de Paz y Convivencia. 1999. Interviews with teachers who work in schools located in highly conflictive neighbourhoods 11 Interviews with young people in youth groups and students in public secondary schools. 12 Interview with teachers. 10

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CONVIVIR,13 which in the opinion of many analysts, contributed to strengthening urban paramilitary groups. Early in his administration President Álvaro Uribe Vélez proposed a policy called Democratic Security (Seguridad Democrática), focused essentially on increasing the budget and powers of the armed forces. The past mayor, Luis Pérez Gutiérrez, put the brakes on the Peace and Coexistence Programme during his administration (2001-2003) and implemented a proposal called ‘I Buy the War’ (Compro la Guerra)14 ; this proposal works on the assumption that appropriate economic investments can make it more profitable for people to give up fighting, leave armed groups to earn a salary for honest work and participate peacefully in society. However, in terms of security programmes with civil society participation, there are neither tangible results nor actions worthy of mentioning here. Illegal and Legal Commerce Activity The activities of armed groups in Medellín include: the sale of drugs; extortion of merchants entering the community by charging ‘taxes’ called vacunas; security ‘taxes’ for community members; transportation and sale of licit merchandise;15 theft and illegal re-sale of gasoline; and kidnapping for ransom. Firearms and Armed Confrontations Ninety percent of homicides in Medellín are committed with firearms.16 Guns are carried and used frequently in Medellín and the Valle de Aburra region, aggravating and facilitating increases in violence.17 Sources for weapons may be legal or illegal. The police are also important arms suppliers because they traffic guns from the black market and sell confiscated weapons.18 According to the government, 36.18% of all pistols and revolvers seized in 1998 in Medellín were illegal. Many arrive by land over the border with Ecuador or by air and sea through Panama.19 “…In 1998, 7,605 firearms were seized, making an average of 21.12 weapons seized daily. And between January 1 and April 28 of 1999, the figure was 2,140 firearms, an approximate average of 23 per day. The tendency to seize weapons is growing, to the credit of the police, but at the same time murders with firearms are also increasing. This reveals that the dynamic of obtaining new weapons is greater than efforts to seize them.”20 13

The controversial CONVIVIR associations were created as civilian groups who assisted in security patrols, especially in the country and later in the city. They grew in Antioquia particularly under Uribe, but later the Supreme Court found them to be partially unconstitutional. The CONVIVIR were formally dissolved at the end of the 90s but continued in Medellín under another name. 14 Pérez Gutiérrez, Luis, Mayor of Medellín. Compro la Guerra, Medellín city government, 2002. 15 The armed groups own buses and force the people living in certain areas of the city to purchase basic foodstuffs from them. They also enter into contracts with the government via their own organisations or through pressure exerted on community organisations. 16 Secretaria de Gobierno, Informes de homicidios en Medellín. 2002. Edited document. 17 Interview with leaders of criminal gangs. 18 Interview 3. Interviews with jefes and members of bandas. 19 PERSONERIA DE MEDELLIN. Informe de Seguridad y convivencia 1998-2000. Pág. 35-39 20 Ibid. Pgs 35-36

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Newer members of criminal gangs are forced to use less sophisticated weapons in armed confrontations, creating a demand for home-made lethal weapons called hechizas.21 Data on seizures show that the size of this market is growing. According to the National Police, in 1998 1,546 home-made guns or hechizas were seized, including changones22 (349), shotguns (653), revolvers (395) and trabucos23 (138), in addition to pistols (10) and even an assault rifle (1). These 1,546 home-made weapons represent 20.33% of the total seized by authorities – that is 4.3 hand-made weapons per day.24 With an average homicide rate between 2001 and 2002 of around 170 per 100,000 residents,25 Medellín is one of the most violent cities in the world. An important element in this violence is that guns have come to hold a great significance for many people: sometimes for economic reasons but also as a way to gain recognition and power, according to members and leaders of armed groups interviewed for this study. Although we do not have exact figures, people who do not belong to armed groups may also believe individually or collectively that they need to have a firearm for protection.26 Type PISTOL SIG SAUER MOD. P-239.9 mm PISTOL WALTER PPK CAL. 7.65 mm REVR SMITH & WESSON CAL. 38 LONG REVOLVER COLT CAL 38 LONG SUBMACHINE GUN MINI UZI REMINGTON SHOTGUN CAL. 12.5 R-15 AK-47 HAND GRENADES

Price Black market Price in the INDUMIL27 price US$ USA US$ US$ 28 1429.19 1521.62 519.70 801.90 1559.11 1116.63 Not sold Not sold Not sold

757.90 974.44 303.16 389.77 822.86 433.08 952.79 952.79 21.65

305.32 224.81 216.54 188.39 259.85 259.85 324.81 389.77 Not sold

Graph 1: Price comparisons29 Source: Revista Semana, May 3-10, 1999 (p.42).30 21

“Hechiza” is a home-made gun with similar characteristics to that of an original gun. Quality can vary. Single-shot home-made shotguns. 23 Single-shot home-made revolvers. 24 Ibid. 25 Report from the Secretaría de Gobierno Municipal. 26 Interviews with leaders and members of criminal gangs and community leaders. 27 Industria Militar de Colombia, the state-owned arms manufacturer. 28 The exchange rate on 4/11/01 was $2.309 29 PERSONERIA DE MEDELLIN. Informe de Seguridad y convivencia 1998-2000, pg. 39. 30 This source contained different information than that which appeared in the Medellín El Semanal, año 2 No.71, 17-23 sep./ 99, p. 5, which uses data from IPC. 22

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Type of Weapon SIG SAUER PISTOL WALTER PPK SUBMACHINE GUN MINIUZI SUB MACHINE GUN UZI REVOLVER RUGGER REVLR. SMITH & WESSON REVOLVER MARTIAL AK 47 CHANGÓN 1 BARREL CHANGÓN 2 BARRELS

Black market price US$

Handmade (hechiza)gun price US$

736.24 346.47 779.55 779.55 281.50 216.54 281.50 – 303.16 779.55– 866.17

259.85 64,96 –108,27 173.23 – 259.85 173.23 – 259.85

51.97 64.96

Graph 2: Price comparison (black market and handmande or hechiza weapons) Source: Interviews 1, 3, 13, 20

Armed groups have ‘benefited’ over the past three years under the influence of paramilitary groups. Their arms caches have expanded to include medium and long-range weapons like sub-machine guns and AK 47s. For each five guns, one is an assault rifle.31 These groups, including their child members, have received military training from paramilitary groups.32 Over the past 15 years in Medellín, narcotraficantes, criminal gangs, militias and guerrillas have been constantly involved in armed confrontations. A significant part of the militia demobilised and others, as well as the insurgents, partially withdrew from the city. In December of 1993 Pablo Escobar was killed,33 and the groups that had worked for him returned to the neighbourhoods and slums. This led to a period, between 1995 and 2000, of increased struggle among these groups for the control of territory. This explains in part the exceedingly high homicide rates – around 400 per 100,000 residents – which have since come down to between 155 and 180 per 100,000 residents.34 The upsurge of violence was not political. This does not mean that there were no armed political actors, such as militias and insurgents, but during those years, these groups did not clash openly with criminal groups.35 Later, paramilitary groups grew in importance in the city, developing clear links with gangs and narcotraficantes. They took a decision to territorially control the city and expel militias and guerrillas, particularly from the marginalised areas of Comuna 13 and Comuna 1. 31

Interview with leader of criminal gang in July 2002. TV program, Caleidoscopio, Consejería de Paz de la gobernación de Antioquia. August 2000. 33 Pablo Escobar, one of the biggest mafia leaders in the country, was from this region. 34 Secretaría de Gobierno Municipal. 35 Alcaldía de Medellín, Asesoria de Paz y Convivencia, Informe de Gestión 1998. 32

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Child and Youth Participation Boys and girls voluntarily join armed groups for reasons such as poverty, social status and power. In Medellín, a high percentage of the members of armed groups, especially criminal gangs and paramilitary groups, are children. According to interviews with group leaders, between 6,000-7,000 armed group members, accounting for 60% and 70% of total membership, are children.36 Children make up about 65% of guerrilla and paramilitary groups at the national level, which a Human Rights Watch report37 estimates at around 11,000 mainly in rural areas. The boys and girls are used in activities such as transport or custody of weapons provided by jefes. Some say they are allowed to make money to buy their own weapons, including keeping watch and controlling territories or transporting and selling drugs, among other activities. It is not unusual for children to be involved in assaults against other groups, homicides, and other crimes. Economic retribution comes in the form of material benefits like new sneakers or a sum of money to use at the market, or as even fixed salaries. II. COAV PROFILES Family History Many of the children and youths from armed groups that were interviewed for this study grew up in homes in which their father, or both parents, were often absent. In many cases they were raised by their grandparents or older siblings. The children talked of violence within the home, where conflict and communicational difficulties are constant in the family. All interviewees were from poor neighbourhoods in Medellín. Their fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters mostly worked in informal services industry, which was often cited by respondents as a reason why they choose to seek easier ways to make money in armed groups. Furthermore, these conditions push boys and girls, especially boys, to play the role of adults – to generate income for the survival of their families. My mother died seven years ago, she got sick and died. My father has not lived with us for nine years. Sometimes he visits us. I live with my brothers. The oldest is economically responsible for the house but the one who really supports me is my grandmother. She doesn’t live with me but she knows about everything that happens to me and she comes to visit often. - Interview 3 (16 years old, male)

It is generally friends who are closest to a youngster as he or she moves from childhood into adolescence. Friends may lead girls and boys to become involved in activities such as robberies, alcoholism and drug addiction. Sometimes these friends are killed in armed confrontations, which may generate a desire for revenge that leads to more violence. I was 14 years old. What led me to get involved in a gang was to see how they killed people I knew. It made me so pissed off and made me want to do the same thing to the person who did it to my friend. I wanted to get him and kill him. I saw a friend of mine killed and it was awful. But a lot of my friends, like seven or eight, died in conflict. I joined voluntarily, in my gang no one forces anyone to join – whoever wants to gets involved. Also to steal and have money and live the good life, this also motivated me. - Interview 3 (16 years old, male) 36 37

Interview 1; Interview 3; Interview 13; Interview 20. HRW. You’ll Learn Not to Cry. Child Soldiers in Colombia. September, 2003. Available on: www.hrw.org.

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It is important to reiterate that if poverty and social inequalities generate the misery that in turn leads children and youths to join an armed group, it is also clear that there are other contributing factors to this choice. For example, the majority of the youths interviewed said they use or had used drugs and alcohol; it makes them feel relaxed and isolates them from reality. According to a 17 year old boy (Interview 1), “What I really like is smoking marijuana, doing coke and drinking alcohol. What I least like is working.” Although the boys and girls interviewed were mostly out of school due to the economic situation at home, schools do not seem to stimulate them, and are not seen as significant in a society that does not offer benefits nor work alternatives for young people. For those who are in school, their main motivation seems to be socialising with other young people and making friends. Interviewed youths tended to experience communication difficulties with their teachers – as is evident their testimonies, some of which tell of verbal and physical confrontations: Right now I am not in school; I studied up to the first year of secondary school. I left because of problems with enemies inside. I got along all right with some kids, but not with others. I fought with more than one. I attacked the math teacher. I was sick of him. That’s why they kicked me out. I hit him in the classroom so that he would learn. - Interview 2 (17 years old, male)

Process of Involvement I joined because I wasn’t in school, I didn’t have any money, and with them I was cool, on the motorcycles and everything. I was 12 years old, and I already recognised many of the guys from the group and knew more than one. […] I like everything that comes with them: motorcycles, money... We join the group for these things... We like to go to the dances, meet girls. - Interview 2 (17 years old, male)

Age It is helpful to think of joining armed groups not as an act but as a process that relates to the children’s neighbourhood, the presence of armed groups, their relationships with peers and with family members, and material conditions. The age young people join gangs is generally between 11 and 14 years old, though in many cases, contact with guns or with friends who have guns occurs from the ages of six to eight. The first phase in the process can be seen as a time of getting closer to the group and doing jobs for others, such as acting as messengers, carrying or transporting guns, or serving as informants. The second stage is when the youth are more closely and structurally linked to the groups and participate fully in their activities. At this stage they normally own at least one gun. I joined the group when I was 15 years old. I had a contact there from about 14, and I had friends who were older than me… guns, drugs the easy life. They didn’t force me to join. We all join because we want to... - Interview 1 (17 years old, male)

Motivations for joining It is clear that pressure to join armed groups comes more from the environment than from the people in them. All the boys and girls said they joined voluntarily and none of 186

them were forced or threatened to do so. Children join armed groups because: they are brought up in a context that allows for and facilitates this; because they live with high levels of social violence; because they are often caught up in the middle of gunfights; or because they witness the death of friends and family. For some, the mere fact of living amidst armed groups makes it difficult not to take part, as they feel pressured to seek protection from them or are attacked just because they come from a certain area (dominated by a rival gang). There were gangs on all the street corners… and if you talked to one person, someone from the other corner would think you were the enemy and shoot and you would have to run away. So I joined the gang and left school… I depended on the money for me and for my house. I joined when I was 14, voluntarily, because I wanted to and because I felt threatened, because if [I didn’t join] they would do something to me or to my family. - Interview 7 (15 years old, male)

Another factor associated with joining these groups is the economic situation of their families. Nine of the youths interviewed said they had serious economic difficulties in their homes. These difficulties were physical, affective and economic. Just one member of the family works – the father or the mother, and sometimes an older sibling – which normally brings in only the minimum income necessary to satisfy immediate basic needs. …Often my mother does not have enough money so I help her. There was a time when I was not in school and I started to steal with my friends to get money. […] I joined when I was 13 years old, but before [I joined] I was aware of what happened with the gangs because I had a friend – he was killed – who told me about them, and the money he got… - Interview 4 (17 years old, male)

Most of the time, however, the money obtained by children and youth in armed groups did not go to the family. Sometimes they would not even mention it to avoid getting in trouble with their parents. In Interview 9, an 18-year-old boy said, “I spent my money on partying, drugs, and the good life. Sometimes I would get food for my family. I didn’t give very much of the money to them.” In the violent social environment in which these boys and girls live, guns and other factors associated with them, such as drugs and money, take on an important significance. I always liked guns, because in the neighbourhood there were a lot of shoot-outs. […] First I started using drugs, then I hung around with them [armed group members] because they smoke marijuana. They asked me if I like guns and I said yes. I was 12 years old, and I joined the group because I wanted to, I liked it, because they needed more people for the gun battles and they wanted young people and anyone who wanted to join… - Interview 6 (15 years old, male)

Girls associated with these groups are a particular case. In general, they join in order to be with their boyfriend or partner. Furthermore, many girls linked to the armed conflict have suffered physical, moral and sexual abuse, or lack of freedom in their families; this sometimes leads them to seek a way to escape. It is estimated that around 7% to 9% of gang

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members are girls. During 2002, their participation is thought to have increased by 12%. Most, around 90%-95%, are under 18 years of age.38 Stages in the process of joining As noted above, more than a formal act or ritual, joining these armed groups (since the children are not forcibly recruited ) is a process that passes through various stages: Process

Stage

Social environment and violence: presence of armed groups, confrontations, Observation, approximation, fascination availability of money and material goods Friendly relations in the neighbourhood or school

Verbally share the experience, enjoy the money

Stimulus, motivation, interests of the boys and girls

Gets to know others: does them favours, transports, holds and uses drugs

Peripheral association, building skills and abilities to do jobs within the group

Services and links to actions of providing information and other operations. Paid.

Defence of the territory, look-out, Full incorporation, own guns and use them confrontations, involved in operations (robberies, homicides), follows orders or implements own initiatives Consolidation of power, ability to lead

Directs, orders, controls and expands territory and economic actions (extortion, organising look-outs, defining actions). Paid.

Structure/functions /hierarchy/position in the group Subordination of criminal gangs by paramilitary groups is not complete. In some areas, the gangs continue to exercise a certain amount of control over territory, as well as control of drug trafficking. In an interview in a local newspaper, one jefe said that in negotiations with the national government and the AUC, he would not give up his weapons nor give up drug trafficking.39 This means that there are violent organised armed groups who work for paramilitary groups and are associated with narcotraficantes, but have a relative degree of autonomy. This autonomy depends on the money they make and their operational capacity and territorial control, which is strongly mediated by drug traffickers. On the other hand there are common criminal gangs or bandas, many of which are made up of children, which may or may not have a defined command structure. 38 39

Interview 12, from another study in the year 2002, with jefes of armed groups and other children. In the newspaper El Colombiano (9/11/03).

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Thus, we can identify two types of structures, each with their respective hierarchies and functions. The testimony of a 16-year-old boy, trained by and linked to paramilitary groups, defines the type of activities in which he is involved and the remuneration he receives: Sometimes I have to keep watch and kill people. I also charged vacunas [extorted fees]. […] In the neighbourhood there are a lot of gangs and they divide up the drug sales. The territory [of my gang] was won by another group that was a lot bigger and had the support of the AUC. They paid us for the work we did. Each week 100,000 pesos each. […] We were allowed to do other things, but we couldn’t pass a certain limit, our pact. […] I stole inside and outside the neighbourhood. When you steal inside you have to tell the others, but outside you can do whatever you want; we didn’t have to say anything to anyone, not even the jefe. - Interview 3 (16 years old, male)

This boy’s comments suggest a structure without many levels: a leader of a zone and a group under his command. The leader or jefe of the zone has at a higher-level boss and a direct link with the larger structure of the group whose area of influence includes not only the city but also zones and territories peripheral to it. Boys and girls charge the vacunas and the bosses divide up the money, taking the largest proportions for themselves. In other cases, the children do not receive a salary; instead, they get a liga, or a small sum every once in a while. The bandas, and not the more structured groups, allow the children to carry out illicit activities for their own benefit. These small groups are involved in the consumption and trafficking of drugs; because they provide an internal market in their own territory, they are given small portions of that market. In spite of certain differences in the groups, they have functions and actions that are more or less similar. For some, vacunas and drug sales are the main source of income. For others, income is generated though robberies outside of the neighbourhood, in banks, stores and sometimes from kidnapping. Rules and punishments Members of armed groups understand and follow certain essential rules that apply both within the groups – that is, among peers – as well as to local residents in the areas they dominate. Interviews show that different punishments are meted out when the rules are not followed. Different groups establish different punishments. These can vary from simply calling attention to the transgression to murder. It depends on the problem. The superior doesn’t hit them but he has them hit each other, or he yells at them, […] or he doubles their time as guards, for example someone who is on look-out from 6 to 12 would go from 6 to 6. The worst thing someone can do is to leak things to other groups, tell them what we are going to do and what we aren’t going to do. The punishment for that is death. Other punishments are getting beat up or not being allowed to leave the house for six months. - Interview 7 (15 years old, male)

Generally it is the boss or commander of the group that gives orders for punishments. Criminal gangs or bandas, on the other hand, do not have a clearly defined command structure and do not follow definitive norms. Individual indiscretions are taken as an offence to the group and its members. In Interview 4, a 17-year-old boy said, “The worst thing that 189

you can do is double-cross your partner, like if you stole a certain amount of money together and one took more and the other was left with less. That would get you killed.” Armed Violence In the year 2000, a child under 13 years old was killed every 4.8 days, and two under 18-year olds were killed every day.40 The risks that young people face include: a) abandonment or being orphaned; b) being killed or wounded accidentally in confrontations or intentionally when they are involved in criminal activities; c) being used by armed groups to transport or hold weapons, as look-outs, and to transport drugs; and d) forced displacement.41 It is important to note that males far outnumber females in organised armed groups: for every nine men in a group, there is one woman. Girls and boys mostly use hand guns, unless they have gone through a training process or are especially trusted within their group. The main guns that interviewed children said they used were: 9 mm pistols, .38 calibre revolvers, .45 pistols, automatic shotguns, Ingrid or MiniUzi submachine guns, changones, rifles, and grenades. I used it [the weapon] from when I was 13. The guns that belonged to the group were .38s, .45s, 9 mm, changones. Depending on the war […] we would also use submachine guns. - Interview 3 (16 years old, male)

Methods for obtaining weapons vary. Sometimes they are bought in clandestine markets and sometimes they are obtained through robberies. It depends. If the guys have money around because they work or something, they buy [their gun] or if not they steal to get money to buy it. They steal money and if they can they’ll steal guns too. When someone goes to steal stuff they don’t leave anything. Guns can also be bought on the black market - that’s the cheapest way to get them. Good guns, something that works well. Sometimes guys will also buy a hechizo [home-made gun] too… - Interview 2 (17 years old, male)

For criminal gangs (bandas), weapons are under the control of the local jefe; if the groups are linked to paramilitaries, guns are usually controlled by the boss of that zone. Firearms may also be passed down from a brother or friend or someone close. Most interviewees agreed that part of the illicit weapons supply comes from government security forces, who may sell their own guns or guns that they have confiscated from another group. It is relatively easy to get access to weapons in the city. If someone has a motorcycle they might sell it and buy weapons, or they might take one off someone who is not careful, like a security guard. If you go to the black market and they already know you it is easy, but if you go there for the first time they won’t give it to you so easily because they might get caught; they’ll ask you a lot of questions first. The police are a farce; they sell weapons to people... - Interview 7 (15 years old, male) 40

Secretaría de Gobierno, Alcaldía de Medellín. Annual report on homicides and violent deaths. Taken from a study commissioned by Oxfam and carried out by the author on the impact of small arms in Medellin entitled “Impacto de armas pequeñas en la salud, los Derechos Humanos y el desarrollo en Medellín, Colombia” (2001).

41

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Male and female respondents said that it felt good and that it gave them an adrenaline rush to use weapons. They seem to play down the fact that they risk their lives in constant struggles for territory and in armed battles. Firearms represent recognition, power, access to material goods, and control. They are also a way to exorcise the pain, rage, and frustrations that these young people feel, as there are few spaces in which they can express themselves non-violently. People believe that you can’t be hurt with a gun in your hand. You feel a lot of different things. You can feel fear, because in this life you have to be afraid sometimes. But being around this so much, it almost feels normal, like something that will pass. First you have a lot of emotion, you feel very vain, powerful. Like those who say, ‘I have mine, I have the cash.’ I don’t feel anything anymore. I have used a lot of guns. - Interview 9 (17 years old, male)

There are two training processes for boys and girls learning to handle firearms. One occurs in the neighbourhood, with friends, and the other as a result of their functions within and outside the group, which develop slowly in a process of adaptation and training. According to a 17 year-old boy (Interview 2), “I didn’t have training… you learn by living. After you join a group you see a lot of things, you learn, you practice with guns.” However, from the year 2000 on, when paramilitary groups began to co-opt and subordinate many bandas in the city, they also began to offer and sometimes force them to train, especially in handling long-range firearms, as well as in information-gathering and intelligence tasks. These trainings occur especially in the peripheral parts of the city under paramilitary control, or in open spaces in rural areas, where they have training schools. I did have military training… We went to schools and everything, they showed us how to handle weapons. We always trained in areas far away from other towns. […] We trained once a week or twice a night. - Interview 8 (16 years old, male)

Armed violence may result from activities such as robberies or from efforts to expand territories or defend them. I have been in battles… they wounded me and that was why I had to leave. I was 16. They attacked me when I was on my own... When I was unarmed I had to run and call my partners. They shot at the guys who were following me. When I was armed I would run somewhere where I could hide and from there I would shoot at them. - Interview 3 (16 years old, male)

Girls, on the other hand, usually have different functions. They do not normally participate directly in gun battles, for example, but they are often involved in robberies. I was supposed to hold and carry the weapons and buy and keep the drugs, to find out what people were doing, if they were robbing; I was the lookout. […] I was a runner, the older guys would send me to do things, […] go and kill someone, carry guns and drugs, go to someone and threaten them. When they tell you to do something you have to go... - Interview 5 (female)

Youths and children involved in armed violence in Medellín are both victims and perpetrators. Most of those interviewed said they had committed an aggressive act against 191

a person or a group of people. In many cases, the children’s body language during interviews expressed pain and difficulty in discussing these issues. In doing an armed robbery I am hurting people and if I kill an enemy I am really harming their family. I have been stealing more than anything, but I have also killed people before. […] In the confrontations, you often don’t see if someone falls or is hurt. I have killed three people, that’s it. - Interview 3 (16 years old, male)

Future Perspectives Getting out: The boys and girls in both criminal gangs and paramilitary groups said they would like to leave – but only if the state, the community or society in general could guarantee their full protection, drug rehabilitation and improvements in the quality of life for them and their families. They also insisted that the adults – their jefes – did not get them involved or pressure them to stay. However, leaving a gang or an armed group of their own volition in the majority of cases generates risks, both within their own group and with others. These risks force many to leave the neighbourhood or seek mediation that will guarantee their life and mobility. When asked about what they would ask the mayor to do to address the problem of armed groups, one of the interviewees said: …reintegration workshops of for youth and children, and work. For those who haven’t finished school, I would ask for schooling, youth groups. That way no one would join a gang because they would be entertained and use their time that way. I would [also] ask for treatment to get off drugs. - Interview 1 (17 years old, male)

Opportunities: There are different ways to get out of armed groups. For interviewees involved in criminal gangs, getting out depends on social and economic changes to guarantee their survival. When asked about his future, one respondent, aged 17, said: “Life goes on, if God gives you the power to go ahead and get what you need. I would like a new life but I would need to have a lot of opportunities” (Interview 2). Present and future solutions: None of the children interviewed said they thought their siblings should join armed groups; often they even advised against it based on their own experiences, which made them fear for their lives and that of their families. “I don’t want my brother to get into a group like I did, because this means harming the community, the people. Even though I did that myself that’s the last thing I want,” said a 15-year-old male (Interview 7). The youths were also asked about what suggestions they have for future generations involved in the armed conflict. Some said that the most effective way to address this would be through programmes where young people can be reintegrated into society. Yes, I know about reintegration programmes. I know that people who give up their weapons and leave illegal armed groups are given education, work, sometimes they leave the country. I would like to get into one of these reintegration programmes […] to leave behind the bad steps I’ve taken, but at the same time I wouldn’t, because you’re in it and […] sometimes you just can’t handle it, unless maybe your superior goes and turns himself in. - Interview 7 (15 years old, male)

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This last testimony reflects the thoughts of a one boy with regard to reintegration programmes for the AUC. We can see he puts his loyalty to the group above taking the decision to participate in a programme that would give him other opportunities. III. COAV SOLUTIONS This section focuses on programmes and public policies in the city of Medellin. We also look at church and civil society experiences of working with people involved in organised armed violence, whether these are boys, girls, youths, or adults. The study found that there are only two programmes in the city to address this specific problem: 1) a city government project called Reincorporation to Civilian Society (Reincorporación a la Civilidad); and 2) the Thou Shall Not Kill Movement (Movimiento no Matarás) which is organised by a group of young people living in violent communities, with the support of the Catholic Church. Each presents alternative solutions to the problem of armed violence from completely different perspectives, on different scales and territorial levels. Case study 1: Reincorporation to Civilian Society The programme was established by the Medellín City Council in 2002 and originally planned for the reintegration of 1,500 people42 in search of territorial, social, and political reconciliation, over an initial period of one year. A press report shows that up to October of 2003, no one had been “reinserted” as a result of this programme – or at least there was no information indicating this had happened.43 For the year 2004, six people involved in the programme had reportedly been reintegrated, though none were children. This can be considered a failure in political and social terms.44 All information seems to indicate that the programme’s efforts concentrated on a process of dialogue and negotiation with the Bloque Cacique Nutibara in Medellín. More than 850 BCN members were initially involved in the programme. In this way, the Reincorporation to Civilian Society programme supports the government’s policy of negotiating with armed groups. These 850 participants were reintegrated into their communities on November 25, 2003 following a weapons hand-over and a three-week period in an educational centre. It is worth noting that 43 boys and girls involved in the Bloque Cacique Nutibara entered the programme and were subsequently sent to the Colombian Institute for Family Welfare’s (Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar, ICBF) demobilisation programme which treats children from insurgent and/or paramilitary groups. As part of the programme, the children received training in life projects, their legal situations were cleared up and they were placed in a work programme for one year. The mayor of Medellín guaranteed these children work contracts for one year in different areas, complemented with educational programmes according to their individual needs. These demobilised children organised themselves into an NGO, from which they managed and co-ordinated their responsibilities. This programme 42

Such as members of paramilitary groups. Newspaper report in El Colombiano (30/10/03). 44 Interview with an employee from the Peace and Reconciliation Programme of Medellín in 2004 (the new name for the Reincorporation to Civil Society Programme as of this year). 43

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does not treat children in criminal gangs, regardless of whether or not the criminal gangs in which they participate work for or are aligned to paramilitary or insurgent groups.45 It is difficult to evaluate the results of the process due to a lack of information. However, there are some question-marks over the appropriateness and validity of this process. The first has to do with the number of people demobilised, considering that the programme could only reach 10% of the armed groups, particularly the paramilitaries. The second refers to the real application of the principles of truth, justice and reparation, which this project simply ignores, as it does not involve any individually demobilised members. Thirdly, there have been accusations that the programme included people who were not really linked to armed groups, but who were specially recruited for the programme and made use of its social and economic benefits. A fourth aspect is that the programme requires that the state provide for the security of participants and their communities, although control over security continues to be shared between the state and the paramilitaries. According to official reports46 by the current administration, there are plans underway to expand the Programme for Peace and Reconciliation (the new name for Reincorporation to Civilian Society), adding a reinsertion phase, including interventions on security, health, income generation, training, psycho-social support, follow-up, and verification. Case study 2: Though Shall Not Kill Movement (Movimiento No Matarás) The movement came about in 1998 as an initiative of youth gang members, who invited the Catholic Church to participate by providing logistical and financial support. The objective of the movement is to get people to adhere to a philosophy of non-violence47 and reconciliation, seeking community and political participation as an alternative to resolving conflicts violently, meeting basic needs and promoting social inclusion. The movement operates in 18 neighbourhoods in Medellín and is based on three principles: prevention; education in areas such as human rights, non-violence, reconciliation, community participation; and protection for youth in imminent danger of being killed. The Thou Shall Not Kill Movement is still ‘under construction’. According to members it is undergoing evaluation, systematisation and strategic changes based on the results obtained so far in terms of providing opportunities for members. It is difficult to say with certainty that the programme is effective in decreasing homicides (this is one of their objectives). What we can quantify is that more than 1,500 people have gone through the programme, of whom 300 have remained active – a 20% effectiveness rate. If we compare this rate with that of the mayor’s reincorporation programme, and considering the resources 45

Since 2002, there has been a debate in Colombia on the quality and quantity of juvenile sentencing, and around lowering the minimum age at which children can be sentenced. Mayor Luis Pérez Gutiérrez (2001 – 2003) has proposed the need to lower the age to 14 (currently it is 18), using the argument that it is cheaper to keep delinquents in jails than in rehabilitation centres. The project establishes a series of rights for children in conflict with the law, based on national and international norms, then later proposes measures that would make children who commit crimes be treated as adults. This goes against article 19 of the UN rules for administering justice to minors (Beijing), which say that confinement should be a last resort and only for a short time. 46 Document presented by the Director of the Office of Peace and Reconciliation(Alcaldía de Medellín 2004-2007) 47 This principal is based on the ideas of Martin Luther King in the United States and Gandhi in India, and has been promoted in Medellín since 1998.

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invested and the infrastructure available, it is clear that the Thou Shall Not Kill movement is one of the most successful programmes in this area. This may be due in part to the sustainability of the programme, as compared to local government policies which are subject to changes or may simply cease. It is important to highlight that this proposal does not dialogue or interact with the policies of local government. According to one of the leaders of the movement: “Although we feel that support of the local government for this programme is necessary and important, we don’t want this at the price of breaking the autonomy of the process and because in truth we don’t have confidence in the current local government, which has stimulated other armed groups and does not make good on its promises.”48

This initiative also has its limitations. First, no civil society proposal can replace state action, because the state is responsible for guaranteeing children’s rights. Second, these efforts do not change the contexts and conditions in which armed groups come about. A process of demobilisation should be accompanied by opportunities in other areas and the necessary treatment when there are associated factors such as drug addiction, for example. Recommendations • Ensure that the local, national and international government agenda includes the problem of boys and girls involved in organised armed violence that have not been traditionally defined as combatants, but who are significant from a quantitative point of view and as an important expression of urban realities in developing countries. • Negotiated political solutions should be a fundamental part of policy to end the social, political and armed conflict in Colombia. The peace policy should differentiate between different armed actors and the characteristics of distinct armed groups. The elimination of political status as a condition for dialogue and negotiation cannot be seen as an excuse for granting immunity. In addition, control of public security should not be shared – whether as a result of action or omission – with illegal armed actors, nor should preferential treatment be given to certain armed actors in the conflict. • The Convention of the Rights of the Child and the Optional Protocol – Colombia has signed both49 – should be seen as the primary tool for treating the particular case of children in armed groups. This means that programmes and plans must be implemented in order to guarantee children their rights and provide them the necessary treatment, including education, psychological support, and so on. Educational and preventative policies should prevail over repression. • Within the framework of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional Protocol, policies for children to be implemented by local and national govern48

Interview 12 At the time of publication the Protocol had not been ratified; it was adopted on June 17, 1999; approved by Congress via law 833 (2003); declared constitutional by the Constitutional Court via Resolution C-172 (2004). Currently (Dec 2004), ratification of the Protocol is being considered by relevant Government institutions; ICBF and the Ministry of the Interior support ratification, however, a position from the Ministry of Defense is still pending.

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ments should take into consideration the particular situation of children in organised armed violence and armed conflict. This does not mean, however, that children involved in armed groups should be considered more important than the aggregate population of children and youth, whose rights must also be protected. Actions should aim to change the contexts that put children in general at risk and should not address the rights of a child only because they are involved in an armed group. • Officials should develop a programme or campaign, at the local, national and international levels, planned over a specific time frame (one or two years, for example), directed at getting children out of armed groups, based on processes and considering associated factors (drug addiction, domestic violence, education, the emphasis on consumerism, morals, etc.) • In the particular case of Medellín, and in other cities in Colombia, when designing policies for the reintegration of children involved in armed groups, the needs of the child should be prioritised over the definition of the group to which they belong. However, characteristics of the group should be considered in order to develop adequate programmes of attention and prevention. • A policy on disarmament and reducing the demand for firearms is urgently needed and should be based on prevention and demobilisation; it should fully guarantee the rights of the child. The policy should include control and restrictions on both the legal and illegal firearms markets, and should provide for communications strategies to disseminate this message. BIBLIOGRAPHY ANGARITA CAÑAS, Pablo Emilio. Violencias Urbanas y Conflicto Armado: Caso Medellín. Ponencia Foro Social Mundial Temático BUSTELO, Eduardo y Alberto Minujin , Editores. TODOS ENTRAN, PROPUESTA PARA UNA SOCIEDAD INCLUYENTE. UNICEF, Editorial Santillana. Pág.240275. Bogotá, 1998 FRANCO, Saúl. El Quinto: No matar. Contextos Explicativos de la Violencia en Colombia. Santa Fe de Bogotá. Tercer Mundo Editores IEPRI. 1999 FRANCO, Vilma Liliana. Violencia, guerra civil y conflictos urbanos: El caso de la ciudad de Medellín, Colombia, en los años noventa. Ponencia Foro Social Temático Cartagena 16 al 20 de 2003. GRANDA MARIN, Alberto y Iván Darío Ramírez. Contexto General de la Violencia en Medellín MEMORIAS. Panel Sobre el Conflicto Urbano. ISA-ISAGEN – EEPPM. Agosto 2002. Medellín. RAMIREZ, Iván Darío y otros. “Formas y contenidos de la urbanización del conflicto político armado interno en Colombia: Medellín 1990-2000, un estudio de caso”. RAMÍREZ, Iván Darío. RED DE HERMANAMIENTO, PUEBLOS HERMANOS. LAZOS VISIBLES. Serie Medellín Entre Fuegos y Exclusiones. Documento 1. El 196

Conflicto Armado Urbano, Las Iniciativas de Resistencia Civil y la Movilización Contra la Guerra y por la Paz. Medellín. Mayo 2002. RAMIREZ, Iván Darío y Gloria Bustamante. RED DE HERMANAMIENTO, PUEBLOS HERMANOS. LAZOS VISIBLES. Serie Medellín Entre Fuegos y Exclusiones. Documento 3. El Impacto del Conflicto Armado y la Exclusión en la Infancia. Urbano, Las Iniciativas de Resistencia Civil y la Movilización Contra la Guerra y por la Paz. Medellín. Mayo 2002. VIVIVESCAS, Fernando y Mauricio Rico, La Recreación y el Espacio Urbano en Medellín: El caso de la Comuna Nororiental

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ECUADOR´S PANDILLAS AND NACIONES A DREADFUL REALITY AND A CHALLENGING TASK: FROM VICTIMS TO VICTIMISERS Primary Researcher: Kleber Loor (Ser Paz) Assistant Researchers: Lidice Aldas (Ser Paz) and Fernando Lòpez DNI (Defensa de los Niños Internacional) This chapter focuses on informally organised and local territorial urban youth gangs referred to as ‘pandillas’, and hierarchical and highly organised youth gangs which exist at the national level known as ‘naciones’, in Ecuador. Part One gives a contextualised summary of these groups. Part Two takes a closer look at the human face of this phenomenon, with profiles of individuals involved. Part Three examines possible solutions to the problem, with an evaluation of relevant social programmes and policies. A full-length version of the report summarised in this chapter can be found at www.coav.org.br. Methodology Primary data sources for this study included: interviews with four pandilla and nacion leaders; interviews with two former prison inmates; and five visits to areas where organised armed violence is considered to be the most problematic, during which interviews with eight neighbourhood leaders of local pandillas and naciones from six different areas were held. The interviews with the four pandilla and nacion leaders were held in order to review and evaluate the content of previously collected secondary data. With the support of these leaders, contact was then made with other youths that had been involved in organised armed violence since the age of 13 years. Therefore, a total of 12 interviews were held in the following locations: a detention centre for minors; a detention centre for adults; and in urban areas that appear to have a high level of conflict involving organised armed groups. This study confirms the lack of reliable secondary data on organised armed violence involving children, adolescents and youth obtainable from public agencies such as the Ministries of Health and Social Welfare, the Municipality of Guayaquil and in the media. The only agencies with reliable data relevant to the study were found to be the National Police and the National Statistics and Census Institute (Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas y Censos–INEC). Although relevant and reliable information from the media was limited, secondary data was collected from local media sources where possible, including: TC Televisión and the El Universo newspaper. For Part Three, researchers interviewed national and local governmental authorities. At the federal level, interviews were held with representatives from the sectors of the Social Welfare Ministry and the Ministry of Government that deal with youth-related violence and crime. At the municipal level, interviews were conducted with authorities responsible for the development of public safety measures in the cities of Quito and Cuenca. Their contribution was important since, with the approval of the new Child and Adolescent Code, municipalities (through Child and Adolescent Councils) are responsible for child and adolescent policy. 198

I. CONTEXTUALISED SUMMARY OF COAV Area of Study Profile Guayaquil is the country’s largest city (2,032,270 inhabitants) and the most economically active1. Ecuador currently has an annual homicide rate of thirteen homicides per 100,000 inhabitants2. Guayaquil is less violent than Rio de Janeiro or Bogota, with similar violence rates to Miami, Mexico City and Lima. According to the National Statistics and Census Institute, in 2001 the homicide rate was 20 per 100,000 inhabitants. In the past four years, more than 1,000,000 Ecuadorians have emigrated to other countries in search of better economic opportunities3. Internal migration has also taken place, with Guayaquil the preferred destination for both urban and rural migrants4. Guayaquil has 12 marginal urban areas, of which three are considered to be high crime areas in which pandillas, naciones, and organised bandas involved in vehicle theft and drug trafficking are active5: El Guasmo, Isla Trinitaria and Bastión Popular. The estimated population of these three sectors is approximately 900,000 inhabitants, of which 400,000 belong to the age group focused on for this study.6 It is important to point out that the precarious living conditions (basic services, health, housing and education) found in these neighbourhoods have resulted in an alarming increase in violence, reflected in high levels of family conflict, alcoholism, drug addiction and delinquency7. Another determining factor in the increase in violence is unemployment, with the unemployment rate for Guayaquil at 9.5%, and an under-employment rate of 53.3%.8 Brief Historical Analysis of the Situation Violence in the neighbourhoods located on the outskirts of the city, which were established in the 1970s, can be traced back to disputes over land. Armed groups were originally created to defend land, and used by local leaders to strengthen their hold on power and status.9 In the suburbs, adolescents and youths followed this leadership model from the late 1970s onwards, with gangs forming in area schools and neighbourhoods. As these groups strengthened, struggles over recognition occurred and gang rivalry increased, with disputes frequently resolved through fights involving sticks and stones. As of 1986, gangs began to use rudimentary firearms, and the number of victims increased. In their eagerness to attain greater notoriety, these groups began to use drugs and carry out criminal acts including robberies and assaults, arousing the attention of both the media 1

Ibid Diario el Universo, August 26 2003 3 Dirección Nacional de migración y extranjería, 2002 Statistics 4 Departamento de planeación urbana. M.I. Municipalidad de Guayaquil, 2002 5 Delinquency statistics, 2002, Comando provincial del Guayas 6 Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas y Censo, V population census and IV housing census, 2001 7 Consejo Nacional de la Mujer (CONAMU), Annual Report 2002 8 Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas y Censo, Annual Report 2002 9 Comité Permanente por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos, Historical archives, Guayaquil 2

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and the police.10 As of 1986, repression increased with the introduction of a police “flying squad”, which detained youth hanging out on street corners or sidewalks in marginal neighbourhoods. In 1987, the Special Anti-gang Group (Grupo Especial Antipandillas - GEA) was created to combat pandillas and a 10pm curfew for minors was introduced.11 These repressive measures led gang-involved youth to search internationally for organisational models that would allow them to maintain territorial control and to grow strategically in a clandestine environment. This new form of organisation, known as naciones, came into being in the early 1990s, and still survives today.12 The naciones are structured in order to provide confidence and protection both to the group as a whole and its members, who enter into a life-long pact upon joining. In 2000, the police broke up 109 bandas (see below for description of bandas), 50% of whose members were minors.13 It is important to note that the pandillas and naciones are training-grounds for later involvement in the bandas; approximately 70% of the members of criminal bandas arrested by the police say that they had previously participated in pandillas and naciones.14 Actors Involved In Guayaquil, pandillas and naciones are considered to be the main youth organisations. The majority of the groups are involved in crime, including firearm possession and the consumption and trafficking of drugs. Currently, there are an estimated 1,050 informal groups involved in organised armed violence (pandillas and naciones), involving approximately 65,000 youths. The majority come from conflictive home environments where broken families have led to a high incidence of violent, nonconformist, aggressive and excluded youth.15 According to a SER PAZ survey of 1,688 students in December 2000, one out of every two young people interviewed had a direct or indirect connection to a pandilla or nacion.16 Pandillas (gangs) Pandillas are made up of mostly young male youths between the ages of 11 and 18 with similar interests in music, dance or sports, and include an informal hierarchical structure. These groups are limited to a specific geographical location. Involved youths feel that pandillas provide them with the safety or support that family, society and the government do not. Estimates are that in Guayaquil there are approximately 1,000 pandillas, with between 20 and 40 members each.17 Their organisational structure does not include a defined leader, although the most violent member often provides leadership. They do not have defined rules and some 10

“Vandalos colegiales” in Vistazo, November 1997. Comité Permanente por los Derechos Humanos, Press archives 12 Interviews with nacion leaders 13 El Universo, June 2000 14 Interviews with former prison inmates 15 Hogar de Tránsito de Menores (juvenile detention centre– Ed.), Psychology Department, 2002 report 16 Survey of students in 11 Guayaquil schools on youth violence– SER PAZ, 2000 17 PGU - Ciudad y Violencias en América Latina, Cali – Quito 1993: In the chapter “Guayaquil: pobreza, delincuencia organizada y crisis social,” the author says that “according to the National Police Antigang Group, there are around 1,000 gangs in the metropolitan area of Guayaquil” 11

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members have access to weapons and consume drugs. Recently, pandilleros (gang members) have begun to use hand signals and clothing of certain colours to define themselves. Among the best-known pandillas are Los Contras, La Muerte, Los Intocables, and Los Rusos. Naciones The naciones began as an alternative to pandillas as the latter became increasingly targeted by the police. There are around 50 naciones, with between 100 and 1,000 members each usually between the ages of 12 and 24. Naciones have a leader and a hierarchical pyramid structure that allows them to create branches in diverse sectors of the city. Their main objective is to dominate territory.18 The largest naciones in Guayaquil are Latin Kings, Ñetas, Masters, Rebel People, Hierro, Big Clan, New People, and Némesis. They develop artistic and cultural projects in order to attract new members, to advertise their activities, and to demonstrate their organisation and power. Bandas Bandas are armed groups made up mostly of youths and adults between the ages of 18 and 30 years old. They are led by adults, and are engaged in crime and drug trafficking. Minors participate in them and are used as informants, decoys, for stripping down stolen cars, and for transporting drugs. Youth in bandas are paid and given protection as long as they are active. The main criminal activities carried out by bandas include assaults, kidnappings, drug trafficking, etc. Each banda has between 30 and 40 members. Command Structure Generally, the member who has the most experience and demonstrated ability in the group heads a nacion. The supporting leaders, who have his total trust, follow him in rank. These are followed in turn by a consultative group made up of no more than 10 members and established by the leader based on each member’s history in the nacion. According to member testimony, when a leader is taken prisoner the oldest serving cell boss (jefe de célula) takes over until the leader is released from prison. The sub-group leaders head up cells, puntas (cells of naciones dispersed throughout the city) or ramificaciones which are distributed in different city zones. Both the maximum leader and the cell bosses have members known as oscuros (literally “dark ones”) or tanques (“tanks”) that act as armed shock troops. The leaders in the organisation determine the rules, the internal communication codes, the symbols and the signs that identify each nacion. Following the rules is an obligation for each member and failure to do so is punished. Punishment may include physical torture, the obligation to attain weapons and money for the group, having to carry out robberies and assaults or selling drugs. An example of this is a Latin King member interviewed for this study who was beaten and shot in the legs after attempting to leave the group.19 Prison leaders tend to be members of bandas, with whom members of naciones carry out strategic alliances in order to receive protection or to conduct business inside or outside prison. 18 19

Interviews with nacion leaders Interviews

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Relations with the Community Pandillas and naciones exercise territorial control over the neighbourhoods in which they are active. Within the community, group members do not openly carry weapons unless there is a confrontation or a threat from a rival group. Weapons are guarded in hiding places designated by the leaders and under the responsibility of a group member known as the ‘custodian’. In most neighbourhoods local residents view pandillas and naciones with either indifference, fear or rejection, while a small minority regard them positively for their involvement in art, music or sports. When organised groups are on friendly terms, transit of members between the areas controlled by each group is allowed. During times of conflict, however, a member cannot cross from one area to another controlled by a rival group. Those residents that are not involved in a pandilla or nacion can pass freely between zones. The only rule that they must follow is to not to inform to the police or comment publicly on gang activity. They threaten us saying that if we open our mouths they will kill us, and they are better armed than the police as they have repeat rifles, revolvers, ‘palomeras’ [home-made firearms], among others 20... Resident Isla Trinitaria

Role of the State Over the past decade, the national government has provided few resources to those ministries concerned with social policy: the ministries of Human Development, Labour, Education, Health and Housing. This reflects the scant attention paid to children and youth in Ecuador.21 In addition to having a very limited budget, these ministries are overly bureaucratic, and fail to provide integral, comprehensive programmes for adolescents, with only 24% of at-risk children in Ecuador benefiting in some form from one of their programmes.22 In 1997, the federal government created the National Office of Specialised Police for Children and Adolescents (Dirección Nacional de Policía Especializada para Niños, Niñas y Adolescentes - DINAPEN). This special police branch is the only governmental organisation directly concerned with juveniles involved in delinquent activities and in violence. Within penal institutions, leaders of the naciones and bandas set the rules for inmates and there exists a high level of corruption and violence involving both the detained and personnel; this includes the payment of quotas in order to receive food and even for the space needed to sleep. Drug trafficking and consumption and the selling and use of weapons are also common. These activities are mostly organised by bandas made up of adults, with whom the pandillas and naciones enter into alliances for protection.

20

El Universo, August 1, 2003 Made up of the following institutions: Dirección Nacional de la Juventud, Direcciones Provinciales de Educación, Operación de Rescate Infantil, Programa Nuestros Niños, Instituto Nacional del Niño y la Familia, Programa Nacional de Educación Preescolar, Dirección Nacional de Policía Especializda en Niños y Adolescentes, Consejo Nacional de Control de Sustancias Estupefacientes y Psicotrópicas, Public Health clinics that specifically treat children and adolescents. 22 INEC population and housing census 1990, SESE online version (2000) 21

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In high-crime areas of the city (such as El Guasmo, Isla Trinitaria and Bastión Popular), residents told researchers that there is a level of complicity between the police and pandillas. A neighbourhood leader said that “the police are aware of gang activity, they know who the leaders are and they know where drugs are sold.” At the end of 2002, the Guayas provincial government, the sub-secretaries of Social Welfare, Education, Health, and DINAPEN asked a variety of civil society organisations to participate in a new Anti-gang Plan that would include projects to meet the multiple employment, educational, and recreational needs of adolescents and youth. This initiative was frustrated by administrative changes and a lack of resources. Two men interviewed in an adult prison were held in a special cell for prisoners able to pay between US$300 and US$500 for protection from sexual abuse, violence, and extortion from other inmates. One youth at the prison that had been involved in a group since the age of 14 was held in a cell in which adequate protection to inmates was not provided. He did not receive help from his group as he was considered a traitor for having informed on a group leader who had participated in a robbery. Legal and Illegal Commerce The groups and their members engage in illegal commercial activity, which provides money in the short-term.23 Among these activities are drug trafficking, selling stolen car parts, mobile phones and other stolen goods, and the forgery and sale of false telephone cards. Stolen cars are turned over by the pandilla or nacion members to the bandas, who sell them in complicity with the police and the transit authorities.24 Some of the bandas with whom the pandillas and naciones have links are connected to both international and national drug trafficking and contraband networks. These networks make use of a simple and fast distribution network for drugs. Distributors contact pandilla and nacion leaders and offer them initial earnings of up to 100% profit on sales, as well as providing them with drugs for personal consumption. Eight of the youths interviewed for this study have participated in or participate in drug sales, which are generally made outside of schools in marginal neighbourhoods. When caught by the police for drug trafficking, gang-involved minors have to pay more bribe money to gain their freedon than when arrested on robbery or assault charges.25 According to an 18 year-old member of a nacion, “The first time they caught me robbing they took me in; my mother had to pay US$100... after that they caught me with little packets of the white stuff and rode me around the city for three hours, threatening to lock me up with the big guys... We had to pay US$300 for them to let me go.” Armed Confrontation Minors involved in pandillas and naciones begin to use weapons upon joining (at 11 to 13 years old). However, firearms are only carried by long-term members, those who have 23

Interviews with nacion leaders. Interviews with nacion and gang members. 25 Interviews with nacion leaders, SER PAZ archives, May 2000. 24

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shown ability, led a cell, or are part of a nacion’s shock battalion known as the oscuros or tanques, who are adolescents between 14 and 20 years old that carry firearms and are directly subordinate to the leader. The weapons are used as a show of force, during confrontations between groups over territory, and to settle other disputes. Armed confrontation and criminal acts carried out by pandilla and nacion members have caused deaths and injuries both deliberately and due to stray bullets; they have also led to the displacement of some families from within areas dominated by these groups. A resident of the Sauces 6 neighbourhood who was attacked by members of the Latin Kings said, “They tried to burn down our house and they threatened to kill us because my sons know about the crimes that the gang commit...I have to leave my neighbourhood, protect my family.” Information gathered from city media (Diario El Universo and El Comercio) shows that there is increasing involvement of the groups in violence resulting in firearm injuries. In January 2002, 1,360 people were injured by armed pandilleros or nacion members, compared to 1,643 in August 2003. According to these two newspapers, there was an increase in firearms-related deaths during the months of January and May of 2003; according to pandilla and nacion leaders this is linked to the following key dates: Three Kings Day, which is considered a symbol of power and leadership within the groups, and the beginning of classes in May, when there is a need to demonstrate control of turf within schools. Weapons used range from 16-calibre cartucheras (home-made guns that fire one bullet at a time) that cost US$20 dollars on the street to foreign-made firearms such as the Smith Wesson revolver, whose price oscillates between US$200 and US$250, and repeat rifles such as the Mosberg 5, at US$600. Firearms are bought with the quotas collected by the groups. While it is true that the leaders and higher-ranking members openly carry firearms, the majority of firearms are kept under permanent guard in a secret location.26 Firearms can also be bought at certain hardware shops where the only purchase restriction made is that the buyer has reached adulthood or that there is an adult present. Firearms are also obtained through robberies or assaults on security guards or other armed citizens. II. COAV PROFILES Family Histories Of the 12 interviewees, two were between the ages of 13 and 15 and six were between the ages of 16 and 18. Two of the 12 interviewees were female. The majority of interviewees came from single parent homes in which the mother was the head of the household. Four of the youths interviewed said that they get along well with their parents, six said that their relationship with their parents is normal although they felt misunderstood, and two considered it to be bad. According to one 16-year nacion member, “we almost never see my father since he does not live with us, he only comes around when he is sick or needs something from home...she [the mother] says that we are good for nothing, that she is tired and threatens to leave us to see what will become of us.” 26

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According to the Sixth Women’s Commissary of Guayaquil, family violence is one of the main causes for complaints made. Minors interviewed at the Transit Home (Hogar de Tránsito – a detention centre for minors) said that they were constantly mistreated both verbally and physically by their parents and other family members. Homes tend to be crowded and with little privacy which, when added to a lack of communication, could lead to conflict and the need to find alternatives to the home environment and family relationships on the street. Many of the families in low-income or surburban neighbourhoods were part of the migration of rural residents to the city, and household heads tend to have had little schooling; this in turn affects the educational opportunities open to young people. In the city of Guayaquil, 70% of young people in pandillas or naciones have finished primary school and 30% secondary school.27 Nine of the 12 interviewees were not studying at the time of interview; four of these had finished elementary level and three had finished secondary level education. Three of the 12 interviewees are in their first years of university, and said that they have little possibility of finishing due to the need to find work. Among the obstacles to their studies cited by interviewees are their economic situation and a lack of support from their families. Nine of the 12 young people interviewed belong to very poor families whose income does not cover 60% of their basic needs. Two of the 12 come from families that are considered poor; they are able only to cover their basic needs and have access to minimum public services such as education, health, etcetera. One member is from the middle class.28 One 14 year-old nacion member said that when a family member is ill, money has to be raised through odd jobs. When odd jobs are not available he joins with other youths to assault buses, pick pockets or sell drugs. “When my mom got sick there was no money to help her or to eat with and my brothers from the group, in solidarity, took up a collection to buy the medicine she needed while I looked for work. When I did not find it, I decided to join up with two friends and assault cars stopped in traffic.” Pandilleros and nacion-involved youth may be employed in commerce, as electricians, and with computers. According to interviewees, to earn more than $80 a month one must be at university, have connections and dress well. Ten of the 12 interviewees are unemployed or under-employed. Process of Involvement The groups measure power in part by the number of members they have and the number of schools in which they are present. This means that there is constant recruitment of new members. In the 80s and 90s, according to group leaders, the minimum recruitment age was 13. As of 2000, with increasing conflict between groups, new members may be as young as 11 years old and in their last years of primary school. According to one 1627

El Universo, February 14, 2000. Poverty is demonstrated by the case of Juan, who lives in a shack in one of the city’s poorest neighbourhoods. He is similar to the other youths interviewed: 17 years old, living with his mother and two younger brothers, an aunt and a cousin. The family’s monthly income is around 140 dollars, earned by his mother (laundress), and his aunt (sweets vendor). Their monthly earnings do not cover basic needs.

28

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year old member, “Our group began six years ago. At first, only those who had reached 13 could join, but in 2000 some groups began to accept school kids and after that we thought that it was “ok” since the kids are more obedient and, even though it may seem like a lie, are smarter when given orders.” Of the twelve interviewees, ten initially joined a pandilla, which in some cases was transformed into a nacion. In other cases the adolescents decided to leave their pandilla to join an existing nacion or banda. Ten of the 12 joined between the ages of 13 and 17, with 13 being a common age of entry. The girls interviewed joined between the ages of 16 and 17. This is most likely due to the fact that families tend to exercise greater control over the activities of girls. The majority of adolescents chose to join the groups. Eleven of the 12 said that they were motivated by their interest in participating in diverse recreational activities held by the groups. One interviewee said that they were invited to join by friends who were already members. Members cited the possibility of counting on a reliable group of friends as a key reason for joining. Other reasons included identification with the colours, symbols and accessories of the group, curiosity, and to do something fun and different. As young people participate in the recreational activities of the group and begin to identify with it, they are told of the requirements for becoming members; these include a trial period of between three to six months. At this stage, young people carry out diverse tasks that, depending on the group, may be either legal or illegal. Among the most common activities engaged in during this trial period are spying on other groups, on individuals or institutions, recruiting new members and demanding funds or materials for the group. Current Involvement The naciones have a hierarchical pyramid structure with a main leader and a consultative council made up of the oldest serving cell chiefs (jefes de celulas) in the group. The council is responsible for co-ordinating, controlling, watching over and advising the diverse branches or cells of naciones in Guayaquil and other cities. The longest-serving and most reliable members take on various roles within the hierarchy. Other members participate in diverse activities (dances, sports, baptisms, robberies, fights with other groups, etc.). Among the most important roles are: Oscuros (dark ones): Armed group directly subordinate to the group leader. Guardaespaldas (bodyguards): Armed group permanently accompanying the maximum leader or the cell chiefs. Leader´s Assistants: Reserved for the longest-serving group members. Responsible for organising activities and meetings for the leader. Informants: Most are members who are in their trial period. They are responsible for activities such as spying on and investigating other groups and the police in their areas of activity and, in some cases, they are used to carry out assaults and robberies. Mediators: Chosen from among the oldest-serving members and those with the greatest knowledge of the organisation and its rules. They help to resolve internal conflicts. 206

Art co-ordinators: Members who are talented in the arts: music, dance, graffiti, making accessories characteristic of the group (necklaces, bracelets, rings). LÍDER MÁXIMO – Maximum Leader GUARDA ESPALDAS – OSCUROS CONSEJO CONSULTIVO – Consultation Council JEFES DE CELULAS – GUARDA ESPALDAS ANTIGUOS/Experienced MEDIADORES/Mediators AYUDANTES DE LIDERES/Leaders’ assistants COORDINADORES DE ARTE/Art coordinators

NUEVOS/New INFORMANTES U OTROS/Informants or others

Of the 12 interviewees, one was a maximum leader of a nacion and another was a cell chief. Four were bodyguards, with the rest being made up of a leader’s assistant, an informant, a mediator, and an oscuro. Most said that their roles provide them with a feeling of security and recognition. Eight of them said that their role in the group represents power. Interviewees said that within the pyramidal structure of a nacion, codes, symbols and internal regulations are maintained to provide the group with an identity and distinguish it from other groups. Rules must be strictly followed, including the constant and punctual attendance at group meetings, following orders, and defending and respecting group symbols and accessories. Members must be willing to provide unconditional assistance to other members of the group, and be available when called upon by the leader. Sanctions vary for breaking the rules and include physical punishment such as forced exercise and beatings that, at times, may require hospitalisation. Several said that there are specific punishments for not following the rules regarding quotas and concerning particularly dangerous missions (such as infiltrating rival groups). The most severe punishments are given out when a member decides to leave the group or when information is given to a rival group. Male members punish fellow male members and female members generally punish other females. As the majority of members are male, female members may be subject to sexually abusive punishment. Armed Violence According to all 12 interviewees, the prime motive for carrying a weapon is the need for personal defence. Weapons are also used to carry out assaults and robberies. Nine of the twelve said that they feel safe when they carry or use a weapon due to the power and respect that they gain. The other three said that they use weapons due to the constant threats re207

ceived from other groups and, although they are afraid when using them, the weapons provide them with a feeling of power and a means for survival. As previously stated, the average age for joining a pandilla or nacion is decreasing; this is directly related to the age at which pandilleros or nacion-involved youth begin to use weapons (since they are often tested on weapons use during their trial period). Only two of the interviewees had received firearms training, with the remainder learning on their own. Four of the 12 respondents began to use firearms at the age of 14, two at the age of 13 and two at the age of 12. Firearms are frequently used in confrontations between pandillas and naciones. These usually occur due to disputes over territory, to settle scores with the members of other groups and as a show of force and power. Eleven of the 12 interviewees said that they had participated in armed confrontations. All of them had fired their weapons during these confrontations, seven of them had been wounded and nine had seen others wounded. Eight of the 12 said that they had seen someone killed by another pandilla or nacion member and five said that they had killed someone. The interviewees said that drug use is one of the factors that most contributes to growing violence and is common to all of the groups. Interviewees commented that at least 50% of members use or have used some kind of drug. Five of the 12 interviewees began using drugs when they were between the ages of 13 and 17. Half use marijuana and two of the 12 use cocaine. Among drugs used are crack, coke, hashish and plomo (a mixture of drugs). Seven of the adolescents said that they had been under the effect of some type of drug when participating in a crime and that drugs gave them the ability to deal with any situation. Future Perspectives The youths interviewed for this study had little concept of their futures. In a conversation with an 18-year old assistant to a leader regarding a micro-enterprise project, he said, “it would be good to speak with the new comrades, with those that are arriving, to see if this is possible...if I am still around I will support it... you know that no one has a guarantee on life.... I could be gone by then.” Seven of the 12 interviewees said that they would like to be a professional one day and three said that they would like to have their own business. Although all of the interviewees said that the group is more important than their family, and nine of the 12 said they would not leave it for any reason, ten said that they would not want their brothers or sisters to join. Eight of the young people said that pandillas or naciones are positive alternatives given the exclusion that they are subject to, with few educational and employment opportunities. According to them, the groups provide support, recognition and security. For a 21 yearold cell chief, “If young people are in a group, we feel that we are not alone, if we are alone we feel humiliated and persecuted.” III. COAV SOLUTIONS Official institutions in Ecuador do not consider children and adolescents in organised armed violence a specific or urgent problem. According to Lorena Vinueza, the director of the Office of Citizen Security of the Municipality of Quito (Directora Metropolitana de la Dirección de Seguridad Ciudadana del Municipio de Quito), “From my perspective, the use 208

of weapons by youth is still not an important problem in Quito.” However, a significant number of youths in rehabilitation centres have committed crimes in which weapons were used. According to Raúl Casares, the chief of Rehabilitation of the National Office for the Protection of Minors of the Social Welfare Ministry, (Jefe de Rehabilitación de la Dirección Nacional de Protección de Menores del Ministerio de Bienestar Social), “…we’re talking about 60% of adolescents who enter the centres… [for] assault, robbery, rape... And nearly always the threat is backed up with a weapon… [such as] firearms.” In structural terms, armed violence is a result of the incapacity of the state to meet the basic needs of citizens, and of family breakdown. According to Júlio César Obando, director of the National Police, “The violence involving children and youth in the country is a social product of...necessities that have not been met. Also, one of the main problems is the lack of a family unit.” Public measures involve repression rather than prevention. The institution that should deal directly with the problem of children and adolescents involved in armed violence is the Ministry of Social Welfare. However, the Ministry, through the National Office for the Protection of Minors, is only involved once adolescents have committed a crime and are institutionalised. For the chief of Rehabilitation of the National Office for the Protection of Minors, the absence of public policy on the issue is the result of a lack of political will to deal with problems that are not seen as a priority. “At times there is no political will to see the problem, only what is prioritised is considered and I think that everything is a priority when it comes to integral protection.” According to the official, the government is not interested in developing preventative measures, given that the impact of prevention on reducing violence in Ecuador has not been measured. The work of DINAPEN is reduced to intervening when youths come into conflict with the law; there are no policies or institutional plans specifically targeting the problem of children or adolescents involved in organised armed violence. Two NGO projects involving pandillas in the city of Guayaquil were selected as best practice examples. CEFOCINE (Centro de Educaciòn y Formaciòn en Cine y Televisiòn) was chosen as they directly address children implicated in organised armed violence in one of most conflictive sectors of the country and because an outside consultant had evaluated their work. SERPAZ was chosen, as is the case with CEFOCINE, for directly addressing the problem at hand and for the recognition of its work by authorities, including the Municipality of Guayaquil and DINAPEN. Pandilla Project: betting on hope (Pandillas: una Apuesta por la Esperanza) CEFOCINE29 This project works with pandillas in the suburbs of Guayaquil. The experience was evaluated in its two executive phases. The project objective is to convert pandillas into youth groups that create their own opportunities and help youth to integrate into society. The project targets young members of pandillas, or those that it considers at risk of involvement, between 13 29

www.cefocine.org

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and 20 years of age; there are currently 387 youths in three suburban neighbourhoods participating in the project. Through group meetings the project aims to create the necessary levels of communication and development for participants to construct positive life projects. Proyecto Pandillas focuses on youths as protagonists for social and personal change in order that they gain a better understanding of their potential as capable people with much to offer society. The evaluation of the project considered it a success, with its largest achievement the development of positive attitudes, self-confidence and personal growth among participating youth. According to the evaluation report, “it is notable that the project focus and the methodology used achieved clear results, shown in the value that the youth place on themselves and in a more positive understanding of their human potential.” Leadership training programme (Proyecto de Capacitación en Liderazgo) The project is coordinated by SERPAZ, a non-governmental organisation in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and works directly with leaders of 17 pandillas and naciones from six urban areas in the city. Through training the project aims to construct a culture of peaceful conflict resolution amongst leaders. Project methodology includes transparency and honesty in all actions and relationships, the recognition and respect of the lifestyles and knowledge of participants, and a focus on the positive aspects of group involvement such as graffiti artwork, music and pandilla dress. Project activities include: conflict resolution training; graffiti courses and the painting of public ‘peace murals’; music competitions; radio airtime for positive stories regarding pandillas; and the creation of small businesses for participants as an alternative income source. The project has resulted in dialogue and peaceful accords between rival pandillas and naciones, recognition by local school authorities as to the seriousness of the problem, space within the media for positive stories about pandillas and naciones, the establishment of trust between rival groups, financial support from private enterprise for the project and the creation of communication channels between leaders of pandillas and naciones and public institutions and civil society groups. Proposals for the development of public policy The proposals put forward by the interviewees on the problem of children and adolescents in organised armed violence are primarily related to resolving structural problems. This includes elaborating a national policy that addresses social inequality and assures access to quality public services. A representative from the Municipality of Quito proposed that an integrated public safety policy replace the current national security policy. The law should include prevention and reinsertion measures. “For now we have the National Security Law [that] does not address citizen safety; there is a gap in this law since citizen safety [now] includes a more recent problem.” There must be special emphasis on the necessity of working with the family and the school. For a Ministry of Social Welfare official interviewed, the formation of positive values should be part of any policy that seeks to reduce violence, and prevention is fundamental. “From what I know, the best solution to a problem is always prevention, from a medical, criminal or any other point of view.”

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Interviewees also made the following proposals: increased professional training for the police and restricting their area of action to that of crime control; the development of programmes that address young pandilleros; and earmarking the resources necessary in order to develop a rehabilitation policy. Recommendations The following recommendations were developed after consultation with diverse organisations that address the problem of child and adolescent involvement in organisedarmed violence: • Develop initiatives that seek to replace the National Security Law with an Integral Law for Citizen Safety; • Address the problem of children and adolescents in organised armed violence as related to the pandilla and nacion problem; • Create a state entity to address the pandilla and nacion problem from a COAV perspective; • Address the pandilla and nacion problem in the ‘cantonales’30 plans, and in the 10year Adolescent and Child Plan currently being elaborated. • Promote a culture of peace within the educational system; • Reinforce arms control mechanisms; • Develop a plan to monitor and control the possession of firearms; • Propose legislative initiatives that toughen laws for the illegal sale of firearms; • Develop measures targeting pandilla and naciones that seek to re-orient their practices and forms of relationships; • Increase understanding that the pandilla and nacion problem cannot be resolved through repression; • Develop a campaign to discourage the use of firearms as a personal safety measure.

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This plan was elaborated by representatives from different organisations that work with youth as a tool to create and empower spaces of civic participation. It combines a number of goals, strategies and activities to produce positive changes for youth and the city.

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DETENTION OR DEATH: WHERE THE “PANDILLERO” KIDS OF EL SALVADOR ARE HEADING Marlon Carranza, Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas, Instituto Universitario de Opinión Pública (IUDOP) This report focuses on organised territorial youth gangs, known as ‘maras’ or ‘pandillas.’ The two pandillas focused on were: Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS) and Barrio 18. Part One gives a contextualised summary of these groups. Part Two takes a closer look at the human face of this phenomenon, with profiles of individuals involved. Part Three examines possible solutions to the problem, with an evaluation of relevant social programmes and policies. A full-length version of the report summarised in this chapter can be found at www.coav.org.br. Methodology Part I of this study began with a review of recent publications on pandillas. This review found that important steps have been taken to understand better the pandilla problem. These include a permanent monitoring of the public’s perception regarding the issue, as well as monitoring the changes within pandillas over a relatively short period of time (1996 – 2001). The research included conversations with active gang members and with members of communities affected by gang violence. This additional information, without doubt, greatly improved the data gathered from the study. It is important to note that in Part I there is an effort made to provide an overview of the general situation of youth in El Salvador through the Encuestas de Hogares y Propósitos Múltiples (Surveys of Homes and Multiple Proposals) and to compare mortality rates for the general population to those of youth. Unfortunately, there is no current data on mortality rates available as the El Salvadoran Institute of Legal Medicine (Instituto de Medicina Legal de El Salvador) only has figures for 1998, 1999 and 2000. Information was obtained on children and youth in organised armed violence for Part II by conducting 12 interviews with members of Barrio 18. Among those interviewed for this section, six were 17 years old, three were 16 years old, and one each was 15, 14, and 19 years old. Two of the interviewees were young women. Interviews were carried out in the Metropolitan Area of San Salvador; the majority of them being in the municipality of San Salvador, with a few from the neighbouring municipalities of Apopa, Mejicanos, or Santa Tecla. Information in Part III was obtained through two interviews. The first interview was with César Rivera, Director of Research and Technical Secretary of the Social Prevention of Violence and Delinquency Project of the National Public Security Council. The second interview was with Raúl Ramírez, Director of the Don Bosco Industrial Polygon. I. CONTEXTUALISED SUMMARY OF COAV Area of Study Profile El Salvador had a population of 6,510,348 in 2003, distributed among 14 departments covering 21,040.79 kms2. Fifty-nine percent of the population live in urban areas and 41% in rural areas. The phenomenon of urbanisation, and subsequent increases in popu212

lation density, is most accentuated in the capital city of San Salvador. The Metropolitan Area of San Salvador (MASS) contains 31.5% of the country’s population and has a density of 3,778 hab./km2. In addition, El Salvador is a young country: 44% of the population is under 18 years of age. In the Metropolitan Area of San Salvador, half of the population (49.1%) is under the age of 24. The 18 or under age group makes up 37.09% of this population.1 Nearly 83% of four to 18 year-olds in the MASS are in school (compared to 73.5% nationally). School attendance for children of 12 years and under is 96.5%. As children grow older there is a tendency for the numbers of young people in school to decrease. By 18 years of age, nearly 30% are not in school. Often, young people do not study due to the need to earn income, even though the youth population (between 15 and 29 years old) continues to be the group most affected by unemployment, with a 9.8% unemployment rate.2 Aside from pandillas, other manifestations of violence in the MASS include common delinquency (homicide, robbery, theft, drug trafficking), family violence and delinquency.3 Brief Historical Analysis of the Situation In El Salvador there is a common belief that the appearance of the maras and pandillas, coincided with the end of the country’s civil war in 1992. In reality, gangs already existed – even before the war – although they became more visible in the 90s. Pandilleros4 began wearing baggy clothes and acquiring tattoos, started to identify their groups as pandillas or maras and became more violent; they began to be involved in public confrontations with rival pandillas and other delinquent activities. El Salvador was engaged in a 12-year armed conflict from 1980 to 1992. Among the most visible consequences of the conflict were the more than 75,000 deaths and major increases in both poverty and migration.5 The first years after the civil war were among the most violent periods recorded in the history of the country. Some studies have said that the increase in violence following the civil war was due to the fact that violence was the only method familiar to Salvadorans for resolving conflict. The belief that gangs came into existence only because of the war – or because of deportations of young people from Los Angeles,6 or due a criminal tendency innate in youth – overlooks a series of determinant factors in the cultural construction of violence. Although it is clear that youth delinquency has increased post-war, it would be erroneous to claim that young people were primarily responsible for increases in the levels of 1

Encuesta de Hogares de Propósitos Múltiples (EHPM), Dirección General de Estadística y Censos (DIGESTYC), 2003. Ibid. 3 “Estrategia Preliminar para la Prevención de la Violencia en Cinco Municipios del Area Metropolitana de San Salvador” presented to the World Bank by SACDEL in June 2003. Available on: http://www.sacdel.org.sv/ html/docs_violencia/estrategia.doc. 4 Member of a pandilla or mara. 5 According to a May 1994 annaul report of the UN High Commission for Refugees, the Salvadoran population in Mexico, Belize and the rest of Central America is 245,000, and it is estimated that one million Salvadorans have immigrated to the United States, Canada and Australia. 6 Salvadoran gangs have assimilated the symbols, names and cultural aspects of some gangs in Los Angeles, among whose members are a large number of Salvadoran immigrants. After the end of the civil war, some of these members were deported to El Salvador, a fact which has led some to attribute to it the rise of gangs in El Salvador. 2

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violence. For example, according to National Civil Police statistics, in 1996 only 12% of arrests carried out were of minors. Furthermore, according to the Supreme Court, in 1995 only 10% of court cases corresponded to youth offenders.7 In spite of this, the overall perception of the mara phenomenon has been very negative. In numerous opinion polls from this period, a sizeable sector of the population considered the proliferation of pandillas to be the main problem facing the country - to an even greater extent than poverty and unemployment. The federal government responded by toughening punishment for mara members. In 1995, the Legislative Assembly ratified the Juvenile Delinquent Law, a special measure addressing children in conflict with the law, and the Youth Courts were also created. At the same time, a clandestine paramilitary group called ‘Black Shadow’ (Sombra Negra) emerged and was accused of murdering of at least 13 pandilleros between 1994 and 1996.8 Actors Involved In El Salvador there are two types of gangs: student gangs and territorial gangs. This study will focus exclusively on the territorial gangs.9 These are groups made up of young people “with a basic sense of group and that function as a group, usually linked to exercising territorial power control of neighbourhoods and slums (colonias) in the city”.10 In El Salvador there are two main territorial gangs, the Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS) and the 18, or Barrio 18. There are other existing groups, but the majority of gang members are found in the two mentioned previously. The origins of these two dominant maras are outside of Central America, in the United States. As explained by Cruz and Portillo: “At the beginning of the 80s, with the massive migration of Salvadorans to Los Angeles, another mara came into being, called Salvatrucha due to its members’ [geographical] origins and to draw attention to its ethnicity as distinct from that of the diversity of Calle 18 members...Salvatrucha did not begin as a hostile response to Calle 18, but as a culturally distinct group different than the other gangs...”11 Studies have shown that the growth and influence of North-American gangs on Salvadoran pandillas is not determinant. The pandillas began due to a sum of factors that have to do with the long history of violence in El Salvador.12

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Smutt, M. y Miranda, J. (1998). El fenómeno de las pandillas en El Salvador. San Salvador, El Salvador: UNICEF, FLACSO. 8 “Denuncian 51 asesinatos de menores y jóvenes en Honduras”, La Opinión, April 27 2003. Available at: http:/ /www.laopinion.com/print.html?rkey=00030426205101221874 9 Territorial gangs tend to be referred to as maras although the words mara and pandilla are used interchangeably. 10 Cruz, J.M. (1999) “Maras o pandillas juveniles: mitos sobre su formación e integración”. In Martínez Peñate, O. (Coord.) El Salvador. Sociología general. Realidad nacional de fin e siglo y principio de milenio. San Salvador, El Salvador. Editorial Nuevo Enfoque. 11 Cruz, J. M. y Portillo, N. (1998) Solidaridad y violencia en las pandillas del gran San Salvador. Más allá de la vida loca. San Salvador, El Salvador: UCA Editores., (pages 56-57). 12 In the study Solidaridad y violencia en las pandillas del gran San Salvador (see author’s previous reference) only 16.3% of a group of 1,025 gang members affirmed that they had been in the Usand only 15.5% said that they maintained contact with gang members in the US.

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According to Civil Police records, there are 309 ‘clikas’ – the pandilla’s basic unit – active in the 14 departments13 that make up the country, although there is a higher concentration of them in the capital. Maras and pandillas are primarily active in five municipalities in the department of San Salvador: San Salvador, Apopa, Soyapango, Ilopango and Mejicanos.14 Both groups covered by this study are active in all of these municipalities, where they control the colonias. Rival maras are territorially mixed in with each other, and their area of control and domination does not expand beyond that of the colonia. Calculations of the number of young people involved in gangs changes from year to year. In 1996, the police estimated that at least 20,000 youths in El Salvador were street gang members.15 In April 2003, police told the press that there were 5,768 youths in gangs.16 The General Sub-director of the Civil Police, Pedro González, said in an August 2003 interview that there were 10,500 pandilleros in El Salvador.17 The difficulty in calculating the number of mara members is due to a series of factors. First, there are at least three stages of involvement: activos (active members) who are formal members; colaboradores (collaborators), who are not officially members but rather close to the group; and calmados (“calmed” or inactive), who have received permission to cease participating in group activities. Estimates do not distinguish members according to these categories. The mobility of maras is also a constant variable that is often not taken into account. It is not known how many enter into active membership, how many are ‘calmed’, how many die and how many emigrate to the United States or elsewhere. These are categories that vary month by month. Based on an analysis of two mara studies conducted four years apart,18 we can identify the main characteristics of the groups. The most important reason for joining a mara given by respondents was the ‘vacil’,19 with 40% of respondents identifying this as the main reason they joined. This was followed by ‘family problems’, with 21% of respondents giving this as their prime reason for joining, and ‘friends’, listed by 20%. The word vacil has to do with gaining respect and power, through installing fear in others. Obviously, only the combination of several factors – among which are power, economic resources, access to drugs and alcohol, social visibility and an ideology that justifies certain actions – provides an adequate explanation of the motives for joining. On average, youths enter at the age of 15, with 51.9% saying that they entered between the ages of 11 and 15 years, with 46.1% entering between the ages of 16 and 25. The 13

‘Departments’ or ‘departamentos’ are geographically and administratively distinct zones within El Salvador. According to the Sistema de Asesoría y Capacitación para el Desarrollo Local (SACDEL), cited in El Diario de Hoy, 24/07/03. 15 Cruz, J. M. and Portillo, N. (1998), op. cit. 16 La Prensa Gráfica, 20/04/03 17 El Diario de Hoy, 03/08/03 18 Santacruz, M. y Concha-Eastman, A. (2001). Barrio Adentro. La solidaridad violenta de las pandillas. San Salvador, El Salvador. Talleres Gráficos UCA and Cruz, J. M. and Portillo, N. (1998), op. cit. All of the data in this section are from these studies. 19 The word vacil means “for fun” and incorporates all the benefits of being a pandillero, which can be summed up in two words: respect and power, related to the fear imposed on others. Only by understanding the combination of these benefits (economic, access to drugs and alcohol, social visibility and an ideology that justifies their actions) can we begin to understand the reasons that young Salvadorans join maras. 14

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majority of pandilleros are not in school (75% in 1996 and 92.3% in 2000). Respondents had completed an average of eight years of formal schooling only, implying that they were expelled or had dropped out of school. The unemployment rate for gang-involved youth is also high. In 1996, around 75% of pandilleros were not employed; that dropped to 66.6% in 2000. The economic situation of employed gang youth is unstable since 45% of them are in temporary jobs. Gang membership is often associated with children who have been abandoned or who live on the street. In reality, a large percentage lives with both parents: in 1996 they accounted for 25% of all pandilleros interviewed, rising to one-third of interviewees in 2000. Twenty-five percent live with their mother. In general terms, these youths live with one or both of their parents or with a close family member. Command structure According to the Salvadoran Anti-drug Commission, within maras, a leader is responsible for organisation at the national level. This leader maintains contact with counterparts in the United States and with organised crime. Moving down the hierarchy is the ‘zone leader’ who is in charge of two or three clikas, followed by a gang member responsible for a particular clika, who controls gang members of a certain neighbourhood, street, plaza or park. The latter co-ordinates certain groups within the pandilla, such as: a recruiting group; a ‘shock’ battalion that defends gang territory; a ‘delinquent’ group in charge of organising extortion, robberies, thefts, drug dealing, and so on; and an ‘information’ group, which monitors the police and produces propaganda. This structure is not common to all groups. For example, according to the members interviewed for this study, there is no recruitment process. However, the maras do have very well developed levels of organisation and the leader, for some groups, is very important. Members in prison, including many of the leaders, have significant influence over members on the outside, and vice-versa. Being in or out of prison is not a barrier to exercising a member’s role within the organisation. According to the previously cited studies,20 the number of young members that have spent time incarcerated rose from 66.6% in 1996 to 74.3% in 2000. Among youth 18 years old or younger at the time of the study, 54% said that they had been in a juvenile rehabilitation centre. The large number of gang members in the prisons (21% of the total prison population) has meant that since 2001 the Office of Penal Centres (Dirección de Centros Penales) has separated MS and Calle 18 members in order to avoid prison riots, deaths, and injuries. Since the signing of the Juvenile Offender Law (Ley del Menor Infractor) in March 1995, the Salvadoran Institute for the Integral Development of Children and Adolescents (ISNA in its Spanish acronym),21 has processed a total of 10,067 youths for various criminal offences. Of these, 1,324 correspond to homicides, or 13.15% of all cases. In addition, according to press reports, 50.7% correspond to robbery/theft, and 9.13% to the sale or fabrication of weapons and explosives, 6.63% for possession/sale of drugs and 8.18% for rape/sexual offences and others.22 The media has reported on the easy availability of weapons in rehabilitation centres, the manufacture and sale of drugs, and on escapes facilitated by prison staff. 20

Ibid. Until recently known as the Instituto Salvadoreño de Protección al Menor (ISPM). 22 El Diario de Hoy, 01/10/03. 21

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Relations with the community Not all communities are affected by the mara problem to the same extent. In some cases the groups dominate the community, and the police do not enter other than during a major operation. According to a survey conducted in three municipalities close to the San Salvador Metropolitan Area (two with a strong gang presence and one without), 80% of community residents in those communities where there are maras say they have not had problems with them.23 A Soyapango residents commented that pandilleros do not steal from community members and that “now there is a kind of truce with the community members, who have decided not to go to the police [...] perhaps because of this […] they leave us alone.” The same is not true of non-residents who often become the principal victims of the gangs when they arrive in the community. Role of the State In July 2003, the President of El Salvador, Francisco Flores, announced the beginning of the Iron Fist (mano dura) plan (also discussed in Part III). The objective was the “dismembering of the pandillas and the incarceration of their members”24 with the participation of the Civil Police and the Armed Forces. Within two months of the launch of the initiative, 2,483 pandilleros had been detained and 84,491 operations carried out, including permanent patrols of areas with gang activity, the removal of graffiti, intelligence gathering, vehicle searches, and so on. Twenty-eight percent of those detained were under the age of 18.25 Young Salvadorans have not been integrated into the political system and there has not been significant progress in the creation of political and economic opportunities for the country’s youth. For example, in the national budget there is no category earmarked for young people. The only institution that significantly supports at-risk youth is ISNA.26 There is a lack of funding for youth-related policy and small-scale projects that seek solutions at the local level within the budgets of the Ministry of Education and the Department for Employment Creation of the Labour and Social Security Ministry (Departamento de Gestión del Empleo del Ministerio de Trabajo y Previsión Social). The only notable changes in government policy have occurred in the legal system, with the creation of special courts for minors. Just as a lack of youth policy is critical, so to is the police’s internal investigative capacity and anti-corruption efforts. Testimony from pandilleros affirming that the police benefit economically from their relation with gangs is abundant. I have also seen them using drugs, I have seen them ask for money in exchange for letting pandilleros go... - Barrio 18 gang member 23

“Maras y Pandillas en Centroamérica Vol. II. Pandillas y Capital Social”, In Press. Results from El Salvador have already been released in: Cruz, J.M. (2001): “Pandillas y capital social”. Estudios Centroamericanos (ECA) (págs. 637-638, 1099-1118.) 24 Speech by President Flores on July 23 2003. Available at http://www.casapres.gob.sv/dis03jul8.htm 25 Information department of the Policía Nacional Civil. Information available at: http:// www.pncelsalvador.gob.sv/noticias/2003/mano230903.htm 26 In 2003, ISNA received US$ 4 million to carry out its work, which is 0.5 % of the nation’s total budget (Carranza, 2003).

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Such behaviour increases a generalised feeling of insecurity as the police are no longer seen as the guarantors of order and justice due to their involvement with gang crime. Mistrust of the police is widespread. Legal and illegal commerce: Activities that the groups are involved in Almost all of the pandillas and maras are involved in criminal activities, the most common being drug trafficking and consumption, robbery and assault.27 There are high levels of addiction among young gang members. Marijuana is the most commonly used drug, with 41.5% saying that they use it regularly (daily). Marijuana is followed by alcohol (35.9%) and crack (25.8%).28 Some pandilleros also distribute and sell drugs. There needs to be more in-depth study of whether or not this is limited to the initiative of individual gang members, or whether it is a fundamental activity of a gang or gangs. Some of the pandillas are more involved with organised crime associations, although it is not possible to make this generalisation for all gangs. However, in the next few years it is likely that the ties between gangs and organised crime will strengthen. Armed confrontation According to President Flores, gangs kill an average of 100 people a month.29 The General Sub-director of the Civil Police, Pedro González, told the press that “pandillas are responsible for more than 60% of homicides in El Salvador, in addition to being responsible for 50% of other crimes, both petty and serious”.30 However, there is no institutional data to back up these claims. Data from the Dr. Roberto Masferrer Institute of Legal Medicine shows that in 2000 there were 1,932 homicides attributed to firearms in the country. When these are classified according to motive, it appears that the maras are responsible for 8.2% of homicides.31 Although the motive is not known for a large percentage (46.5%) of homicides, this data does not back up the claim that gang members are responsible for the majority of homicides in El Salvador. In the study cited above32, pandilleros said that the majority (63.2%) of armed confrontations in which they are involved are with rival gangs. Almost 20% said that armed aggression was mostly committed against “people on the street” during robberies (56.4%). Nine percent of the youth interviewed also said that they had assaulted people from their own community. Only 3.6% of gang members said that they had committed an act of aggression against the police, of these 55.9% said that they did so in self-defence.33 Twenty five percent of minors under the age of 18, and 60% of those 18 and older said that they 27

Santacruz, M. and Concha-Eastman, A. (2001), op. cit. Ibid. 29 Speech by President Flores. Op. Cit. 30 El Diario de Hoy, 03/08/03. 31 PNUD, 2003. Page 179. 32 Santacruz, M. y Concha-Eastman, A. (2001). Barrio Adentro. La solidaridad violenta de las pandillas. San Salvador, El Salvador. Talleres Gráficos UCA and Cruz, J. M. and Portillo, N. (1998), op. cit. 33 Santacruz, M. and Concha-Eastman, A. (2001), op. cit. 28

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had “never” killed anyone, which implies that a significant number of members have in fact done so.34 As gang members increase in age, acts of violence committed tend to become more serious. This is related to the fact that the older members are often armed. To comprehend the proliferation of firearms in El Salvador, it is important to note that a firearms registry was only created in 1992. Since then, there has been an increase in the number of firearms in circulation, as well as the number of companies importing firearms, businesses selling firearms, the number of private security companies, and the overall demand for guns. Research shows that in El Salvador there are approximately 450,000 firearms in circulation, of which only 38.37% are legally registered. The rest are thought to be weapons left over from the civil war or obtained on the black market.35 Pandillas also appear to play a role in the illegal arms market. According to testimony, those primarily responsible for the arms market are international traffickers, middle and low-ranking ex-military personnel, members of the Civil Police and gang members. In addition, there has been a proliferation of home-made firearms used by gangs.36 The study Barrio Adentro includes a detailed description of the kind of weapons used by pandilla or mara members, as well as a profile of their victims. Generally, it is estimated that seven out of 10 pandilleros are armed. In 2000, the most commonly carried weapon by members was the pistol, with 37.7% saying that they own one (rising to 41.8% amongst male members); 26.4% said that they carry a weapon other than a firearm (rising to 64% amongst female members), 20.2% of respondents said that they own a home-made weapon, and the remainder said that they owned explosives, rifles and other weapons. Slightly more than forty-seven percent of those that carry a weapon said that they bought it on the street, 23.8% said that it was given to them by a friend, 16.4% said that they had stolen it, and only 7.7% said that they had bought it legally. The remainder cited other reasons.37 The majority of violent acts involving a firearm committed by gang members targeted other young people. Of the members interviewed, 63.2% said that the last act of violence they were involved in was against a member of a rival gang, 19.4% said that it was directed at a person on the street, 9.9% said that it was against a member of their own community and only 3.6% said that the target was the police.38 This data coincides with data on victimisation. Almost half of the youths interviewed said that they had been victimised by a member of a rival pandilla, three out of 10 gang members saying that they had been victimised by a member of the police force; 10.6% said that they had been the victim of aggression by an individual and 6.6% by a member of their own mara or pandilla.39 Out of every 10 male gang members, six had been injured by a firearm on at least one occasion in the previous year. Three out of every 10 female members had been injured by a firearm in the same period. This data highlights the precariousness of gang life.40 34

Ibid. Ibid, page 59. 36 Ibid, page 71. 37 Ibid, page 71. 38 Ibid, page 84 39 Ibid, pages 94-95 40 Ibid, page 89 35

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II. COAV PROFILES Personal histories Young people involved in maras and pandillas have often not had their economic, emotional and safety needs met at home. In the majority of cases, respondents’ birth mothers and fathers were no longer together and respondents did not live with their families. For those that had a father figure as a reference, they considered his main responsibility to be the provision of economic support. As such, much of the conflict between respondents and their fathers involved economic issues. On the other hand, mothers tended to command confidence and respect, although their physical presence was limited in the cases of many of the respondents. One youth (Interview 8) said, “[My mother] only works and works, [so I lived] with my grandmother [...] I didn’t see much of her, at times not for months.” In most cases, respondents were raised by their grandmothers, or they claimed to have grown up with little or no adult supervision. One of the most violent relationships recorded in the interviews was between a female gang member and her step-father. In Interview 11, a gang member said that she had suffered abuse: “...if your step-father wants to abuse you [...] you tell your mom, but she doesn’t believe you [...] Yes, that happened to me.” The relationship between respondents and their siblings was also violent in some cases. This was often due to problems related to alcohol and other drugs. As one pandillero commented, “Yes, my brother, he also smoked the pipe. Once he was high and hurt me with a machete.” For other gang members, siblings are the only people that they trust, particularly if they are older and on their own. The majority of pandilleros have studied up to elementary level. Of all the interviewees, only one did not know how to read or write. The remainder had studied to above third grade, with some completing the seventh year and even high school. Some had a history of poor conduct, grade repetition, academic problems, and conflict involving their professors and classmates. Others, on the contrary, had never repeated a school year, enjoyed studying, and had a positive relationship with their professors and colleagues. At the time of the interviews, all but one gang member had left school. The majority did so upon joining the gang, with others leaving school just before or just after joining. The economic situation of the interviewees varied. In general, household members worked in the service sector and commerce and at the time of the interviews most of the respondents’ adult family members were employed, although only two had completed university diplomas. The economic activity of respondent’s mothers varied, with many employed informally. Fathers and step-fathers tended to work as mechanics, or in sales. The majority of pandilleros had some form of apprentice experience in mechanics, carpentry, welding, painting, etcetera. However, none continued to work in these trades. At the time of the interviews, only three were employed, with many citing the country’s anti-gang policies as a reason why they choose to avoid the risk of working. Process of involvement The process of involvement identified during interview is closely related to the strong desire on the part of youth to belong to a mara. Certainly, gang membership involves a series of aptitudes, skills and benefits for gang members. 220

Family problems, especially those that have to do with a lack of communication, together with family disintegration and violence, were important factors in the decision by respondents to join gangs. When family ties are weak, they are often replaced by ties with the pandilla and other pandilleros. Well, I felt that there was more communication with all of them [gang members] than at home; I would go home and there would be someone there, I would just go to my room, watch television, listen to music, eat, sleep and the next day leave, there was no talking with anyone. - Interview 5

When children play on the street they see gang members hanging around on the corners as role models. This form of attraction is known as ‘alucinar’ as it creates enthusiasm on the part of the children toward the group. When I played I saw the big men [just]...hanging out...where I went to school I got together some kids and we ran around crazy and I didn’t have a tattoo or anything, [I was just] ‘alucinando’ with the 18... - Interview 2

First contact with a pandilla is often due to being harassed by a rival gang as a child. This causes resentment and anger, both of which are instrumental in the decision to join. Because whenever I went to school [...] when I went to the vending machines they robbed me and I got so tired of it that I joined up with the 18, and they are going to pay... - Interview 2

Gang affiliation is not automatic, and it is not determined by the mere control or presence of a gang in a particular zone. Affiliation usually occurs through the friendship that a child has with a pandillero, often at school. As one member said (Interview 5) “...at the age of 12, I met some guys who were also in this, and I began to go to the colonias where they lived.” Another factor in the decision to join a gang occurs when a child observes members on street corners. According to the pandillero in Interview 4, “First, I approached them. There was a corner that the pandilleros of the pandilla I belong to hung out on.” Common to respondents’ narratives was that, at first, some gang members tried to talk youths out of joining. Curiously, this had exactly the opposite effect, and led to respondents becoming even more insistent on joining. During the ‘vacilando’ (hanging-out) period, children intensify their contact with the gang. During this time potential recruits spend all their time with the gang, although they are not yet formal members. They also continue to live at home, although often only going home to sleep. This process can be broken down into the following stages.

Games

Dances

‘Drinking’

Smoke ‘mota’

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With time, pandilleros invite those that are ‘vacilando’ to dances. According to the gang member in Interview 1, “Ah!!...We went to fuck around at the dances, sometimes goofing around, fucking with the same homeboys, it is like a family.” Drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana (‘mota’) is a common link between entertainment and criminal behaviour. Many of the youth interviewed said that their first experience of consuming illegal substances was when they were hanging with a pandilla. With increased contact, young people begin to discover other benefits in hanging out with gang members. At first, however, they must evaluate the benefit of belonging in regard to their own safety, as pandillas represent a combination of security and insecurity. Although a pandillero is more likely to become the victim of attack from rival gang members, the pandilla does provide protection and support. At this stage, unity and friendship are fundamental. Youths often feel that the pandilla is a family in which everyone looks out for each other. One respondent explained that “if something happens to one guy, it happens to everyone...we look out for each other for real.” A second factor to take into account in the decision by young people to become involved in a gang is the ease with which gang members obtain material goods. This contrasts with the scarcity of consumer goods in the homes of most young people in poor neighbourhoods. They are awed by the easy access pandilleros have to resources, even though they know that they are often obtained illegally. The pandillero from Interview 4 explains, “One morning I was with them, watching what they do, ‘I am going out to get something,’ they said, and they left and came back with money...” Finally, potential gang members evaluate whether they have the courage to join. A fundamental expression in pandilla slang that describes this is “agarra cora”, which means something between having courage (coraje) and living the gang life ‘in one’s heart.’41 Some of the experiences preceding joining the gang have to do with confronting fear. For example, some youth described having used firearms before joining the gang, or collaborating in a robbery. After deciding that the gang provides benefits in regard to personal safety and access to material goods, and that he or she has the courage needed to be a pandillero, potential young recruits increasingly identify with the group. This includes adopting the distinctive features that characterise a particular pandilla, such as their manner of dress and speech. The young person is then ready to formally enter the gang. “[They told me,] ‘We see that you run around crazy. Do you want to belong to the neighbourhood?’ Because they saw that I had begun to dress all baggy,” explained the gang member in Interview 4. Current involvement The formal incorporation of the young person into a pandilla involves an initiation described by members as ‘playing’ or ‘brincarse’. Usually, three or four gang members beat the new member for a determined amount of time.42 The final decision to join the gang is up to the individual. 41 This expression also describes the dynamic nature of the relationship with the pandilla. You do not ‘have’ cora but you ‘acquire’ it. Thus the pandilla assumes a hold over the feelings and the willpower of the young. 42 For example, if they are from Barrio 18, the beating continues for 18 seconds.

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The blame [for entering the gang]...perhaps my dad shares part of it, but I am more to blame, because I could have taken another path, if I had nothing to do I could have looked for a job, anything else… - Interview 12

At this stage there is a definitive break with the family, or a profound emotional distancing from it. The ‘family’ experience provided by the gang is intense, and from this point on gang members are homeboys rather than civilians. The other ‘homies’ become their brothers (or sisters) and there is a strong bond that involves sharing experiences. I was playing around and looking for my family [...] afterwards I spoke to my mom and told her that this was the path that I had chosen and she let me do it. - Interview 5

Total confidence of the group in the individual: As civilians (i.e. not gang members), children are excluded from some of the communication that goes on within the pandilla. In the meetings, for example, gang members make decisions that civilians are not involved in. According to one respondent: “When you’re hanging out around the gang there is not a lot of trust in you. But when you are in it, everything that is said stays there.” Obeying a series of restrictions and rules within the gang: Pandillas have clear rules regarding respect and behavioural standards that members must adhere to. “You can only...smoke marijuana…only that, but no crack nor glue, nothing! Not even paint thinner!” explained one respondent. No going back on the decision to join: Those that enter the gang must do so definitively, which is why prospective members are warned beforehand that ‘they have to run steady’ with the gang. Should someone regret the decision to join, they are ‘read the book’ – a reminder of the compromises assumed when upon initiation and a warning that the gang is not a game in which members can come and go. At times, punishment such as the ‘crazy minute’ (in which pandilleros beat a member for one minute) occurs. From the age of nine I was hanging out with gangs, but at 10 I decided to join...afterwards when I saw how serious it was I got scared and I didn’t go out and for three months didn’t take part. After that they read me the book and I passed through the crazy minute. - Interview 2

Knowledge and intensive training: There is an accelerated learning period that involves learning how to deal with the situations and the types of people one is likely to encounter once in a pandilla. ‘The school’ is a mental manual on how to respond when committing illegal acts, or in the case of run-ins with other gangs. They also train members on how to react should they be arrested by the police on drug or weapons charges. Missions are actions carried out by the most able members. Once assigned, the mission must be carried out unquestioningly. In some cases, a mission may be given upon initiation, as a form of inaugurating gang membership. If it is carried out well, the pandillero earns a new and permanent name that is given to highlight his/her courage. The majority of missions described during interview involved carrying out ambushes in enemy territory. 223

‘Now you have to go on a mission in order to earn your code name.’ ‘Sure,’ I said. They took me and a senior member. The mission was to shoot at the rival gang. They gave me the gun. - Interview 4

However, various interviewees said that they were only given a mission long after joining, or that they were given missions that did not involve carrying a weapon. The gang member in Interview 10 said that, “Yes, running errands, yeah...buying Pampers for a daughter [...] or...only to buy marijuana [...] to buy only three or five dollars worth.” Tattoos are a symbolic expression of gang membership. At the same time, they express a personal transformation in which death is understood as a distinct possibility. The first tattoos are usually on the chest, or on the forearm, later they are on the arms and on the face. Going to this extreme signifies total disposition to die for one’s neighbourhood or pandilla. There is no more going back to pre-gang life and no alternative to it. “On the street, tattooed on the face [...] they can come at you from anywhere and kill you,” said a gang member in Interview 5. The palabrero is the main authority figure, the one who has the “word”43 within the gang. The relationship between the palabrero and a young person may begin even before their incorporation into the gang. When hanging out with gang members before joining, the palabrero may ask them for favours, which are paid for in some form. Within a pandilla, the relationship between the palabrero and members is affectionate, almost that of father and son. He is a mentor, and is close to gang youth. Various types of material benefits may be provided: ...the [palabrero’s] wife brought me things from the United States, since she went there every three months, such as shoes and clothes. I was totally living with them. - Interview 7

In those gangs in which members are involved in drug sales, and in which the palabrero is the administrator, his leadership is almost total. In these cases, drug profits are not personal, but for the group as a whole. According to respondents, the palabrero keeps the majority of the profit, paying out small quantities to other gang members, especially if they are good dealers. The organisational structure of a pandilla appears to favour the exploitation of the young members, with benefits remaining in the hands of the palabrero. It is important to point out that not all of the gangs are involved in drug sales. In some cases the decision to sell drugs is individual. In such cases, the palabrero’s leadership is more diffused. ‘Banderos’ are members of organised crime groups (bandas) and are considered dangerous and well armed. They are traffickers for drugs, arms or stolen cars, and are also involved in kidnapping rings. They can be either allies or enemies of the gangs, depending on the relationship that they have with a particular gang. There are cases in which banderos have assassinated pandilleros: “They hung out with the 18, but after they killed a homeboy, we started to fight” said a gang member in Interview 2. According to gang members, the banderos are in complicity with the police, which is why they benefit from a high level of impunity. 43

makes decisions.

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Q: The cops know who is a bandero and transeros? A: Yes. Since they provide them drugs.

The ‘transeros’ are drug distributors whose relationship with maras and pandillas is purely commercial. Gang members approach them only when they need drugs to sell. In none of the interviews did they mention disputes or difficulties with the transeros, and they seem to be sporadic allies. Piperos are crack cocaine addicts that live in the communities where maras are active. On the one hand, the piperos are strategic allies who may be used as lookouts when the police arrive. “They [gangs] just put the piperos to work at night. Yeah, because if they caught pandilleros at night, they sent them to the CAM (metropolitan police). But they don’t stop them [the piperos],” said a gang member in Interview 6. At the same time, since the piperos are not an organised group, the gangs take advantage of them. ...the piperos go around robbing...I take care of my zone because there you can’t rob, I see them robbing and I give them a hard time, or I kill them, they know that you can’t rob here, those are the rules, we charge them a dollar a day. - Interview 2

Armed violence ‘Corriendo el pelo’ is slang used by gang members to refer to a period in which they increase the number and intensity of their criminal acts using a firearm. From what we observed in the interviews, those that had spent less time in a pandilla and had not been through a period of intense conflict with an enemy gang or other another group, had not had the possibility to use a firearm. Some clearly stated that only the ‘big ones’ could use firearms and that they were ‘very small’ to do so. Another group of interviewees, who had also spent less than one year in the gang, said that they had used firearms on occasion, for example, firing up into the air while hanging out with the group. Others said that using firearms had to do with one’s proven ability. In these cases, training involves observing how others use them and practicing in isolated areas. Finally, some interviewees said that they had been systematically trained in the use of firearms, and that they were shown how to use ‘papas’ (home made grenades), ‘cantaritos’ (manufactured grenades). They train you with, say, a police-type training...so you don’t do anything on your own. And we take care of the little ones…because we know they’re the future of the neighbourhood! - Interview 7

What was common to all of the respondents was the fact that they were most likely to use firearms during missions; most practical experience occurred during these periods. Gang members described missions as going to enemy territory in order to ‘do in’ rival pandilleros. Various gang youths said that members may borrow guns from their gang in order to carry out ‘personal business’ that usually involves robbery. In these cases, half of the earnings are handed over to the gang and, should a gun be lost, the member must replace it. “Well, the gun is just loaned out, but if it is lost you have to pay for it. Of course, depending on what you get, you have to turn over half,” said a pandillero in Interview 3. 225

A common use of guns is for carrying out robberies and assaults. When passers-by are held up, the weapons are usually used for intimidation. “I told a man to give me a colón [a coin] and he didn’t, so I took out the gun,” said a gang member in Interview 3. But weapons are also used in large-scale robberies that involve a greater deal of planning. These were pointed out as the moments when gang youth felt their lives were most at risk. Of the 12 interviews conducted with children and youth in organised armed violence, three of them said that they had not killed anyone, nor had they participated in an action that involved killing; another three said that, although they had been involved in these types of actions, they did not know if their involvement had resulted in deaths; and six admitted that they had been involved in various murders. According to the six, their victims were members of rival gangs. In such cases, the age of the gang youth does not matter, but rather that the mission is carried out without harm coming to the pandilla or loss of firearms. Q: …when did you kill for the first time? A: 13...they sent me on a mission. We went with another little homeboy, younger than me. [other gang members told me] ‘May all go well, and bring back all the guns. And you have to kill one or two.’ And I told [the enemy] ‘Don’t you want a drink?’. ‘I am not going to fuck you up’ When he was going to drink I told the other one to beat him. I only saw that he was shot in the head. A nineyear old! […]Fuck! I got my 38 and started shooting. I shot his back while he yelled ‘Mommy, mommy!’ ‘They’re killing me, mommy!’ He shed some tears and laid down there. - Interview 7

Conflicts within gangs and between gang members may also occur, during which time any member, or anyone nearby, may get shot. Drive-by shootings also occur. A pandillero in Interview 3 said that: “All of a sudden, these other guys arrived in a car [...] and they began shooting and I dropped to the ground, we hit the ground!” Often, it is not known who is inside the car. Another gang member (Interview 5) who was also present at the driveby said that they did not know who was in the car and that they “...did not say anything.” The majority of those who said that they had been involved in a murder spoke of their fear when they first killed. However, many said that the initial fear may be replaced by even a sense of pleasure, since rival gang members show no mercy when it comes to killing their gang brothers. At first, the experience of killing produces a strong emotional shock, which may then be replaced by insensitivity. According to the pandillero in Interview 7, “...that day I did not sleep, as I saw myself shooting him [...] Then I became addicted to killing.” Gang members said that firearms provided them with a sense of safety. Their experiences have shown them that without firearms they are at a disadvantage against an armed rival. They have experienced the efficiency of firearms when it comes to doing away with enemies. The gang member in Interview 8 said: “Well, with a mortar you hit them in their whole body and you can be sure that they are dead. With a knife you stab them five times and sometimes they still survive!” The favourite weapon of gang members is the nine millimetre because “it is small and can shoot a large calibre” and because it is automatic. Other weapons commonly used are the 38 and home-made grenades or ‘papas’. Gang youth said that they had also used the following types of weapons: rifles, grenades, home-made pistols, home-made rifles (‘chacas’), 226

carbines, revolvers, 45, 10, 12, 25, 22, 38, 9, 3220 escuadra automática (a type of automatic pistol), Galil automatic assault rife, Estratek and M16. According to the interviewees, UZIs are used only by banderos. Respondents said that they only buy firearms and are not involved in selling them. Guns are obtained from five sources: the police (who sell them), civilians (who sell them or exchange them for drugs), transeros (who loan them the guns so they can look after the drugs), and through robbing security personnel. All pandilleros have to come up with a monthly quota for the group. Part of this quota goes towards buying weapons. According to them, obtaining weapons is easy as civilians who no longer want their weapons sell them to gang members. In one interview, it was claimed that a firearm could be bought for between US$137 and US$251, although a 45 is more expensive. Future perspectives When asked about their future, four responses were common: some preferred not to think of the future; some thought that things would remain the same; some thought they would be working but remain within the gang; and finally a small group would like to go ‘inactive’44. The intensity with which they live their daily lives and having to live with constant risk makes future plans difficult, as gang members are resigned to the possibility of death. “I don’t think of the future, [...] but I thank God for each moment, because [...] no one knows how we are going to end up,” said the pandillero in Interview 8. In addition, no one can leave the gang. One can go inactive, but only when there are clear motives, such as having to work to maintain a family. However, some gang members reject even this, since they have witnessed the killing of inactive gang members. An important aspect related to pandillas is whether or not members believe that it is possible to improve, change, or become inactive. If they do not think that this is possible or worth it, then they do not put much effort into attempting to do this. The majority of respondents had rejected the possibility of studying in the future, choosing instead skills training that could help them to make a living. However, getting a job is made difficult by the fact that few employers are willing to hire a gang member. For some members, the experience of the re-education centres has been important, should they have had access to skills training. “I have thought of a lot of things, since I was really crazy when I was arrested. Now that I am out, I have calmed down a lot,” said the gang member in Interview 12. However, respondents generally looked negatively on detention due to the lack of liberty and abuse by the staff. Gang members were questioned about the ‘Iron Fist’ law (‘mano dura’). None of them thought that it was a solution to the gang problem. Some said that if the government really wanted to reduce criminality it would also target the banderos and transeros. According to the pandillero in Interview 2, “For me they should have made ‘Iron Fist’ for everyone and not just the gangs.” On the other hand, respondents were aware of the fact that not all gang members are active. “Because sometimes, there are those that are inactive and have kids but the cops [still] get on them as they are [already] marked,” said the gang member in Interview 6. In addition, ‘Iron Fist’ does not offer an alternative to internment, and they said that work is a better solution. 44

‘calmado’: a pandillero that stays linked to the gang but not directly involved in gang activity.

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These laws don’t help anything...because if they wanted to help, they would provide jobs... - Interview 4

Some gang members also do not see themselves rising up in the pandilla hierarchy or becoming a palabrero, due to the danger involved. When asked how they would advise those who want to join a pandilla, the majority said that they would warn them about what a gang really is, saying that it is not a game and involves great risk: [I tell new recruits that] it is not easy to run with the gang. That they remember that we do not all have the same luck […] I have been to the wake of some homeboys younger than [me]... In the colonia, a new member was killed on his first robbery. It is not cool that you die young, you don’t live at all. - Interview 7

III. COAV SOLUTIONS To elaborate COAV solutions we sought information on successful rehabilitation and prevention efforts in El Salvador. It was easier to find private institutions involved in such experiences than public entities.45 One public-sector effort is the National Public Safety Council (Consejo Nacional de Seguridad Pública) that has prevention projects. Projects from the private or NGO sectors include the Don Bosco Polygon, which is the largest rehabilitation effort in the country. Finally, we have included an evaluation of the Anti-gang Law, known as ‘Mano Dura’. National Public Safety Council (CNSP in its Spanish abbreviation) CNSP began in 1996 as a public safety consulting office to the Presidency. Its mission has been to formulate and implement a special violence prevention programme and policy, emphasising public participation. CNSP targets 100 communities in 17 municipalities in three departments in El Salvador, with particular focus on the municipalities of San Salvador and Soyapango. After a municipality is chosen, community level organisation (through the Neighbourhood Leadership and Organisational Programme) serves as a guarantee for the success of the other programmes which include: school groups, social infrastructure, community policing, direct social prevention, recreation and sports, artistic activities, vocational and employment training, and medical assistance. At night, young people of the community can opt between football or access to a youth recreational centre, and community lighting is provided for safety. During the day, vocational and employment training are provided. The vocational training and employment programme involves partnerships with public institutions, associations and private foundations that provide formal training for youth in technical areas. After completing the programme, young people seek employment with private and public companies. CNSP also co-ordinates with the Salvadoran Institute for Professional Training through its Job Training Programme, and with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security through its Job Programme. 45

Our request to interview Ismael Rodríguez Batres, the Executive Director of the Salvadoran Institute for the Integral Development of Children and Adolescents (Instituto Salvadoreño para el Desarrollo Integral de la Niñez y la Adolescencia - ISNA) met with no reply. This is unfortunate, given that a large number of gang members pass through the government’s re-education centres. Their experiences, therefore, could help in the search for solutions.

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In spite of the institution’s work in the area of prevention, the fact that it provides council to the Presidency, and the fact that there have been a number of positive evaluations of the programme itself,46 and the Executive Power has privileged intervention through the ‘Iron Fist’ law. This reflects the schizophrenia of the government’s approach to violence and delinquency prevention. The Don Bosco Industrial Polygon The objective of the Polygon, in its 16th year, is to provide work and educational alternatives for children. Currently there are 87 young people living at the institute, all between the ages of 14 and 18 years. There is also a programme for 400 external students: 200 from first to sixth grades, who study during the day, and another 200 youth who study in the afternoon and at night. Young people benefited include street youth, high-risk youth and youth at conflict with the law. Street youth are those young people who live on the street. High-risk youth are those who are at risk of using drugs or who already do so, those who are involved in the illegal weapons trade, have experienced family violence, or are involved in prostitution. Youth at conflict with the law are those who have been involved with the law; they are given the option of participating with the Don Bosco centre. For this to happen, a judge must first agree to the youth’s participation, based on his/her previous behaviour in a detention centre. Recently, “assisted liberty” has become an alternative to interment. If the youth is at risk of involvement in a pandilla, he/she is directed toward a prevention programme. If the young person is already involved, then he/she takes part in an intervention programme. Youth are kept active from 7:00 am until 10:00 at night, including their work in those institutions that participate in the programme. They receive both academic and technical education and training. Besides learning a skill, they are taught management skills, as it is hoped that they will go on to become businessmen, rather than low-skilled labourers. They are personally accompanied by staff members in the areas of education, work and health. Each youth has a psycho-pedagogical dossier. Every three months, their performance is evaluated and staff meet regularly with both programme youth and their families. In general terms, the Industrial Polygon does not receive economic support from the Salvadoran government, but rather depends on international co-operation, especially from NGOs (the majority of which are Spanish). There has been limited support from the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Housing and the Salvadoran Institute of Professional Training. The estimated monthly cost for maintaining a student is approximately US$ 240. The link between Don Bosco and the Supreme Court of Justice is positive since it provides an alternative for those young people who truly want to change their behaviour. Rehabilitation figures for the young people who have participated in the project are positive. In the past two years (2002 – 2003) 60% have made positive life changes, 25% have stopped par46 See “Deporte para todos, Del sueño a la realidad”, http://www.elsalvador.com/deportes/2002/7/19/ depor14.shtml, and “Casa Comunal en la Tutunichapa II: Una alternativa para combatir la violencia” http:// www.elsalvador.com/noticias/2003/05/16/nacional/nacio7.html, and “¡A estrenar se ha dicho!”, http:// www.elsalvador.com/deportes/2002/7/22/depor15.shtml, and “Experiencia inolvidable en vida de menores Previenen violencia con urbanidad”, http://www.elsalvador.com/noticias/2003/11/02/nacional/nacio3.html.

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ticipating in violence and in gangs, and are in a relatively stable situation although they are not working or in school. Another 15% are repeat offenders. This contrasts with the claims by some governments that rehabilitation of gang members is not possible. Evaluation of the Anti-gang Law The Anti-gang Law (Ley Antimaras) was approved by the Legislative Assembly on October 9, 2003 and went into effect on October 11. The law was passed three months after the President of the Republic launched, on June 23, the ‘Iron Fist Plan’ (Plan Mano Dura) announcing his decision to present to the Legislative Assembly a law that would regulate crimes committed by pandilleros. The law was to “establish a special temporary regime to combat the groups known as pandillas.” It was in force for a period of 180 days after going into effect. According to the Civil Police, until March 17, 2004, there were 11,263 arrests made of suspected pandilleros, of which 2,872 were re-arrests. Of all of these arrests made, 5,671 suspected gang members were accused of crimes such as: homicide, bodily harm, robbery, theft, threats, rape, sexual assault, terrorism, kidnapping, hiding a delinquent or crime evidence, illegal carrying of a weapon, drug possession and drug trafficking. The remainder of the arrests were in accordance directly with the Anti-gang Law. Fifty-five percent of those detained belonged to the MS gang, 39% to the M-18 and the rest divided up between various other groups. On evaluating the Anti-gang Law we find that: It is unnecessary since the majority of crimes and misdemeanours addressed are already addressed by the legislative system. In addition, the Anti-gang Law proposes measures that contradict legal rulings that El Salvador is bound by, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Juvenile Delinquent Law (Ley del Menor Infractor) already regulates the situation of minors in conflict with the law. The Anti-gang Law differentiates underage lawbreakers from underage lawbreakers that belong to a pandilla, the same crimes or misdemeanours being given unequal treatment according to whether or not a minor is in a gang. In addition, functions that were previously carried out by public prosecutors or judges in order to guarantee application of Salvadoran law have been eliminated.

The Anti-gang Law determines that belonging to a pandilla is a crime. However, this violates Article 12 of the Constitution, that affirms that “all accused of committing a crime are presumed innocent until found guilty.” Article 15 of the Constitution affirms that “one can be judged only with laws approved before the criminal act.” This means that only those who joined the gangs after approval of the Anti-gang Law can be sentenced. Half of all of the cases of suspected pandilleros detained had their charges dropped. This leads one to question if the work of processing nearly 11,000 young people has a regulatory effect on crime? The country has, in general, high crime rates and cannot focus on only one type of criminal association in detriment to all others. Finally, there does not exist adequate infrastructure to incarcerate all of the gang members in the country. Even before the Anti-gang Law, El Salvador had the highest incarceration rates for Central America. The Anti-gang Law seeks to toughen penalties for pandilleros but is not accompanied by measures that seek to prevent youth from joining gangs, or measures that seek to rehabilitate gang youth or inactive gang youth. As such, punitive measures prevail over prevention or rehabilitation.

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Recommendations • Focus on prevention: There is no unified prevention policy or programme. In general terms, there is little understanding of prevention as a real alternative to the country’s violence problem. Repression is not accompanied by more integral measures that attack the problem at its root. • Invest more in prevention and rehabilitation programmes for youth involved in violence: Very little is invested in preventing violence. At the same time, complementary projects are necessary: for instance, prevention projects that value police and community relations. Professional community policing is needed. • Support local interventions: Mayors’ offices could be the necessary platforms for projects that target violence, due to their accessibility to the people. Various studies have found that there is a relationship between community infrastructure and gangs. The findings from this study could encourage local governments to consider the importance of positive areas within the community and the necessity for controlling those that can negatively influence youth. • Revise the Child and Adolescent Code and the General Youth Law: The current Ley Antimaras gained swift support while there are currently two proposals in the Legislative Chamber that could offer benefits for youth. The Child and Adolescent Code47 and the General Youth Law48 are pending revision. These could broaden the political and judicial scope and fill the institutional vacuum that affects El Salvador. • Be more balanced when addressing the problem: The subject of pandillas was manipulated as political propaganda in the 2004 presidential elections. It is important to make clear that juvenile delinquency is only one manifestation of the generalised violence plaguing El Salvador. • Study the experience of re-education centres: Governmental institutions, particularly INSA, should familiarise themselves with re-education centres. Our experience is that these institutions have not done this.

47 48

Código de la Niñez y la Adolescencia Ley General de la Juventud

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CORNER AND AREA GANGS OF INNER-CITY JAMAICA Primary Researcher and author: Michael Mogensen (Viva Rio/ COAV); Assistant Researchers: Sharene McKenzie (Craig Town Youth Organisation), Kenneth Wilson (August Town Sports and Community Development Foundation), and Steadman Noble (University of the West Indies, Mona). This chapter focuses on community-based territorial groups in poor areas of Kingston and Spanish Town, known as area gangs, which have their roots in the political patronage and political violence that characterised Jamaican electoral politics in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, but which have increasingly become involved in criminal activity. Child and youth involvement in corner gangs, less organised and smaller armed groupings often involved in street crime, is also investigated. The report is divided into three parts. Part One gives a contextualised summary of these groups. Part Two takes a closer look at the human face of this phenomenon, with profiles of individuals involved. Part Three examines possible solutions to the problem, with an evaluation of relevant social programmes and policies. Introduction The history of organised armed violence in Jamaica is linked to the violent political conflict that has taken place periodically on the island since the late 1960s. However, the roots of organised violence in Jamaica can be traced back to the heated electoral disputes of the late 1940s between politicians Norman Manley (founder of the People’s National Party) and Alexander Bustamente (founder of the Jamaica Labour Party). “There is a clear sense in which the violence of the late 1960s flourished so rapidly because there was a history of inter-party violence.”1 The division of inner-city neighbourhoods according to political allegiance occurred in the 1940s and 1950s, with party supporters choosing to live together in certain sections (yards) and rival party supporters forced out of others. This segregation of certain areas occurred some twenty years before the creation of politically controlled housing schemes2 . The growth of these divided, garrison communities in Kingston, such as Craig Town, Tivoli Gardens and others, has been one of the key factors in the development of organised violence in Jamaica and has “fostered the escalation of political violence and nurtured the growth of gun and drug crime.”3 In Jamaica violence has taken on different forms: political violence, drug-related violence and domestic violence. As Harriot points out, the problem of violent crime has been a major issue in Jamaica since the mid-1960s, as reflected in the tough-on-crime policies of the 1970s. Between 1960 and 1976, illegal possession of guns rose from 8 per 100,000 to 90 per 100,000 inhabitants.4 1 Harriott, A (2003) Understanding Crime in Jamaica: New Challenges for Public Policy. Kingston: University of the West Indies Press 2 Ibid 3 Ibid 4 Lang, P (1991) Identifying Crime Correlates in a Developing Society: A Study of Socio-Economic Demographic Contributions to Crime in Jamaica, 1950 – 1984. New York: Publishing Inc.

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Table 1. Illegal Possession of Guns per 100,000 of Population – Rural & Urban, 1960 – 1976 Area ‘60 ‘61 ‘62 ‘63 ‘64 ‘65 ‘66 ‘67 ‘68 ‘69 ‘70 ‘71 ‘72 ‘73 ‘74‘75 ‘76 Urban 8 10 9 9 6 Rural 1 2 3 4 4

6 17 16 16 17 25 39 34 30 30 42 90 4 5 5 5 5 7 10 6 6 4 7 27

Source: Lang, 1991

Table 2. Annual Increases in Shooting with Intent & Age Cohort 14 – 24 (% of pop) Age cohort Shooting with 14 – 24 (% of pop) Intent Years 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984

3 11 14 11 27 35 31 35 47 55 81 41 105 63 63 43 49 58

19 19.4 19.5 19.4 18.8 18.4 19.3 19.2 20 21 21.9 25.5 23 23.6 24.1 22.2 25.7 28.3

Source: Lang, 1991

By 1977, Jamaica had departed from the traditional pattern of crime of preceding years, with violent crime overtaking property crime. Thereafter, a rapid escalation in political and ordinary criminal violence occurred,5 culminating in a homicide rate of 41 per 5

Harriott, A (1996) “The Changing Social Organization of Crime and Criminals in Jamaica”, Caribbean Quarterly 42, nos. 2-3.

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100,000 in 1980. In response to the escalating violence, a state of emergency was declared, the powers of the police were extended and the military took on a policing role.6 In the late 1960s and through the 1980s, many politicians and enforcers or area dons7 in Central and West Kingston were mutually dependent on one another. Enforcers and area dons ensured party loyalty in inner-city areas and politicians depended on them to deliver key votes. Area dons in return depended on the politicians for patronage, such as jobs via public works programmes and public housing. This relationship has been well documented. “The weapons of the political violence of the 1970s and 1980s were guns. The guns were being issued in 1980 by none other than the politicians.”8 While political patronage does still exist, most gang-related violence is not primarily political. Although politics continue to play an important role in community identity and local conflicts,9 there has been a growth in organised crime tied to the drug trade and activities such as protection and extortion, frequent gang warfare and “new social power and enhanced political influence of some of the major crime networks.”10 The shift in the nature of violence may explain the relatively peaceful 2002 parliamentary elections, which were followed by a sudden increase in homicides. As Horace Levy of the University of the West Indies, Mona, explained in interview: “Overt political violence has gone down since 2002. It is not motivated by politics as much as before, and there is not as much egging on by the politicians, such as in 1997 when a politician was caught handing out guns.”

The role of the don has also changed. In the past dons were community leaders who reported to the local political directorate and who controlled a body of soldiers; today the central command structure linking dons and politicians has largely broken down.11 Dr. Kingsley-Stewart of the University of the West Indies explains this change: “In the past gangs were at the beck and call of politicians. The change came as gangs analysed what politicians did to get control. Gangs set up a mechanism that allows them to be independent and no longer totally dependent on the power structure.” There has been a proliferation of corner gangs, corner dons12 and community gangs that are not as subservient to the political system as they once were. “One reason for the area dons loss of influence is that he is no longer the sole source of guns. The easy availabil6

Harriott, A (2003) Understanding Crime in Jamaica: New Challenges for Public Policy. Kingston: University of the West Indies Press. 7 Area dons are gang and/or neighborhood leaders. See ´Command Structure’ below for more information regarding area dons. 8 Horace, L (1996) They Cry ‘Respect’!: Urban Violence and Poverty in Jamaica. Kingston: University of the West Indies. 9 In Craig Town, interviewed young men said they would beat any resident other than senior citizens found to be voting for the JLP. 10 Harriott, A (2003) Understanding Crime in Jamaica: New Challenges for Public Policy. Kingston: University of the West Indies Press 11 Horace, L (1996) They Cry ‘Respect’!: Urban Violence and Poverty in Jamaica. Kingston: University of the West Indies. 12 See ‘Involved Actors’ for an explanation of the difference between area gang and dons and corner gangs and dons.

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ity and the large number of guns in the inner-city seems to be an important factor in the upsurge of gangs and dons and the appearance of a quite different climate of violence.”13 Politically-related violence is considered to have decreased since 2002. The homicide rate peaked at 43 per 100,000 in 2001 when there were 124 murders island-wide in the month of September. Harriott has pointed out that the 2001 homicide rate was largely due to non-political violence14. However, many inner-city residents believe that today’s violence can be traced to the political violence of the 70s and 80s. By the beginning of February 2004, 92 murders had already been recorded in Jamaica.15 Methodology Targeted interviews and group discussions were carried out in the communities of Craig Town (part of the larger community of Jones Town), August Town and at the Hilltop Correctional Centre. Interviews and discussions were conducted on the street or in public areas as well as in private. Due to the complex nature of research and the limited time involved, it was not possible to reach as many youth and community members as had been hoped. A serious limitation to the research was the unfamiliarity on the part of the primary researcher with Jamaican Patois. August Town focused interviews were held with two adults who were involved in gangs as children and adolescents, a community/area gang leader from the Hermitage section of August Town, a female leader of the Jungle Trails gang from August Town, a 22 year-old corner gang member and a 22 year-old community resident. Four juveniles 15 to 18 years old who were involved in gangs and detained at the Hilltop Juvenile Correctional Centre were also interviewed. In addition, interviews were conducted with four academics and or graduate students from the University of the West Indies, Mona, who have worked with children and youth involved in organised armed violence (and results discussed with experts as the research took place), one police officer in August Town, and with three community leaders and activists from Craig Town, August Town and Spanish Town. Several attempts were made to interview children and youth in Spanish Town, but due to the ongoing violence there, it was not possible. I. CONTEXTUALISED SUMMARY OF COAV Actors Involved When discussing gangs and violence in Jamaica it is important to distinguish between area gangs (and area dons) and corner gangs (and corner dons). Area gangs include those gangs that dominate entire communities or neighbourhoods. Many are well-established and have their roots in the political patronage and political violence that characterised Jamaican electoral politics in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. As political patronage has decreased or ceased these gangs are increasingly less subservient to political leaders and more involved in forms of organised crime including extortion, protection and the drug trade. “What happens out in Spanish Town is about the turf, 13

Ibid Harriott, A (2003) Understanding Crime in Jamaica: New Challenges for Public Policy. Kingston: University of the West Indies Press 15 The Gleaner, Feburary 5, 2004: “35 days, 92 killed” 14

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collecting the extortion from the taxi men” (Spanish Town high school principal interviewed in the newspaper The Gleaner).16 Gang violence in Jamaica has always been tied to disputes over territory and resources. Party allegiance was a key factor in gaining access to those resources, and recent violence in communities such as Spanish Town suggests that while it is now less important, it continues to influence violence. Said Horace Levy, “After the Jamaica Labour Party swept local elections island-wide, gangs and communities with ties to the JLP feel that they should be getting a bigger piece of the pie. One Order [a Spanish Town area gang tied to the JLP] is trying to carve out control of extortion.” Corner gangs and corner dons are more informal gangs that may not be connected to political patronage and violence. Corner gangs and dons may exist in communities that are dominated by area gangs and dons. Although corner gangs or dons may never have participated in the forms of political patronage seen in the 1970s and 1980s, as inner-city community residents they are likely to identify with and defend the party dominant in the community. Corner gangs or corner dons that do engage in criminal activity should not be confused with crews or peer groups, which may consist of young boys and men who hang out on corners or in specific areas who are not involved in criminal activity (other than “ganja”17 smoking or dealing). It is important to note the somewhat fluid relationship between gangs and other forms of organised violence in the community. In interviews conducted in Craig Town, residents and community leaders distinguished between “politics-war” (election time violence) and “turf-war” (inter community disputes). While “politics-war” always involved rival communities each supporting different parties, “turf-war” could involve two communities that support the same party. Interviewees stated that at times of political or turf conflict, the community as a whole was involved in the violence, as either perpetrators or victims. At these times, several young men who did not identify with a particular area or corner gang, and who said that they did not take part in violence at other times, said that they had used and would use violence to defend their community and that guns were widely available at such times. Gangs active in West Kingston include the Shower Posse, Spanglas, Fatherless Crew (made up of fatherless youth) and “lock di city”. Gangs active in Spanish Town include One Order and Klans. Jungle Trails is a corner gang active in August Town. A community worker in Craig Town has suggested that there may be as many as 6,000 – 10,000 active gang members in the Kingston metro area. Command Structure Dons: Key to the history of organised armed violence in Jamaica is the role of the “don.” Dons may refer both to strongmen who exercise control over a community and/or the area gang as well as corner dons, who lead corner gangs. The mutually beneficial relationship that developed during the latter half of the last century between some area dons or community strongmen and some politicians has already 16 17

Taxi men refers to cab companies and/or cab drivers. Ganja is slang for marijuana.

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been described above. “Each set of men, or ‘military crop’, was charged with the defence of its own area and answered to a single leader, or to a use a later term, ‘don’, who reported to the political directorate. The don exercised a firm discipline over his soldiers; and this extended not only to matters bearing directly on the conflict with a rival community, but also, as a natural consequence, to disputes and acts of indiscipline internal to his area.”18 The don, as community and/or gang leader, is ultimately responsible for enforcing discipline within the community, as residents turn to the don or gang for justice. When crimes are carried out within one’s own community, “dons...enforced a discipline which included beating or execution, as considered to be warranted by the crime.”19 However, residents in both Craig Town and in August Town said that the type of disciplinary action to be carried out was not always decided on by the don/leader. Community residents would meet and decide on punishment. “If there is a problem then we take care of it. We’ll only go to [the community ‘leader’] with big problems.” The difference between ‘dons’ and ‘community leaders’ is at times nebulous. In Craig Town, the man identified as the community leader was not called a don and does not consider himself to be a don. He clearly exercised control over the community and made key decisions, has legitimate business enterprises and has run for a PNP seat in an area other than the community he heads. Residents and community leaders claim that he is not involved in illegal activities such as extortion or the drug trade. A community activist said that his relationship with community gunmen “depends on the circumstances.” In August Town, the don/community leader for Hermitage has contributed to the truce negotiated with other areas in August Town and can now walk freely through the broader community. During research for this report, he stopped and chatted with a wellknown female member of the Jungle Trails corner gang (which supports the PNP) in a PNP neighbourhood. He is active in peace and conflict resolution activities held by the Sports and Community Development Foundation. He claimed that no extortion occurs in his area. Soldiers: At various times in the research participants spoke of “soldiers” or “gunmen.” However, the role of soldiers is not always clear. In some cases, soldiers in political and/or turf violence may be “gang” members who are otherwise active in criminal activities, members of the community who are “gunnin” as well as older boys and young and older men from the community who are not otherwise involved in gang/criminal activity on a regular basis, but consider it their duty to defend the community at times of conflict. One young man said that he had first shot off a gun at age 19 in a war, in self-defence. He did not consider himself to be a soldier or a gang member. In one community, armed lookouts or “soldiers” were observed (they would not agree to an interview). According to one young man interviewed, “if you wanna be a soldier you can be a soldier. You adopt dem ting. People just grow in da system. You know your turf and you grow up a soldier.” The age at which youth may become soldiers varies. Claudette Richardson-Pious of the NGO Children First said that “I remember a discussion with one don saying that 17 is a big 18

Horace, L (1996) They Cry ‘Respect’!: Urban Violence and Poverty in Jamaica. Kingston: University of the West Indies. 19 Ibid.

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man now. At 16 or 17 they are involved. Youth interviewed said that there are cases of boys as young as 14 being involved, but most said that would not be the norm.” Richardson-Pious went on to say that she is now seeing 14 year-olds involved, as gun carriers or look-outs. According to one group of young residents, soldiers do not normally receive a regular salary for involvement, but access to “spoils.” Relations with the Community Relations of the actors involved in organised armed violence with the community vary according to the community and the type of armed group found within the community. It should be pointed out that in the course of the study, the “community” and the “organisation” or “local gang” were sometimes referred to inter-changeably. The following is an excerpt from the research findings of the World Bank/UWI study on urban poverty and violence: “Whatever the acts of terror against the rival community, or the illegal acts against outside businesses or individuals, the rule was not to terrorise the people of your own community...Often as a result, the dons and other lesser Robin Hood gunmen...were protected by the community from the strict arm of the law.”20 The don and the area gang may be responsible for maintaining order within the community and enforcing rules, as pointed out by residents and community leaders. While certain types of criminal activity may be allowed outside of the community, those criminal acts might not be tolerated within the community, and could meet with severe punishment. A community leader from Craig Town said that “criminal activity happens outside. Like any community, there are certain things that are taboo, the pressure against them happening outside is less...If someone from the community is involved, the consequences are severe if it is inside the community.” During a group interview with young men in Craig Town, they drew a circle representing the neighbourhood, saying that it is PNP. Here “you must follow the rules, not disrespect the community.” They then drew a line for the main road separating the community from rival JLP areas, calling it the “free place” where certain acts would be tolerated. In August Town, residents and community leaders spoke of community justice or “kangaroo court justice.” “Residents don’t have much faith in the justice system” and turn to the gangs or dons for justice. One young man said that “people gettin’ beatings for rape [and] thievery from gangsters, corner gangs [and] guys who are runnin’ the place. They don’t want a thief or rapist in the community.” A group of youth from August Town said punishments for such offences could include beatings and torture by electric shock. Richardson-Pious of Children First in Spanish Town said on her organisation’s relationship with dons, “You have to negotiate with the dons, so that they don’t use the children. We have said to the gangs, ‘ease off the children.’ The day before gun violence we were warned, told to close and send the children home.” However, the organisation’s relationship with corner gangs and dons might be more difficult: “We should have moved to a new location in Duncan’s Pen, but there are too many corners and dons in that area...you are not sure who to talk to.” Relations with the community may be affected by “turf war” (as opposed to “politics war”). “Turf war is over extortion. Turf war is dangerous. Politics war is not dangerous, you 20

Ibid.

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know where to go” said one young man. This is backed up by interviews published in the World Bank/UWI study, “This violence is worse than 1980...then there was only one enemy.”21 Based on discussions and observations, overall relations between community members and community leaders or dons in Craig Town and in August Town seemed positive. In the case of August Town this could be the result of the relative peace that has been negotiated since 1997 and the work of community organisations such as the August Town Sports and Community Development Foundation, and efforts such as the Peace Management Initiative (a government conflict resolution initiative). In the case of Craig Town, this could be the result of the presence of a benefactor who is seen to provide for the community. However, tensions may arise if the benefactor is felt to have ignored the community. In communities where violence is ongoing, and where there are area gangs and corner gangs more openly involved in armed violence and organised crime, relations with the community may be more overtly governed by fear and repression. Said Richardson-Pious, “You must keep in mind that there is a taboo on talking. To be an informer is the end of you.” In Craig Town and August Town, residents also said that “informers” would not be tolerated.

Role of the State The role of the state in past political violence has already been touched on. In 1975, an estimated 20-25,000 persons turned out for the funeral of “political gunman” Burrey Boy. Commenting on this turnout, Jamaican academic Obika Gray said the numbers demonstrated “the unmistakable social power that members of the political underworld had come to exercise in national politics.”22 As stated by journalist Ian Boyne in The Gleaner, “The deadly alliance formed between politicians from the two major political parties and criminals has destabilised the country to the extent that politicians are now powerless in the dangerous game they foisted on society...As the Jamaican economy comes under pressure, so too does the contents of the ‘pork barrel’ resulting in fierce battles for the political spoils.” Jamaica’s two political parties and their leaders have officially stated that they seek to end political tribalism, with both parties signing the report of the National Committee on Crime and Violence which stated that “strengthening the moral authority of the country’s elected officials to demonstrate the political will in leading the fight against crime and violence are central to the overall recommendations of the Committee.’23 Despite the commitment by leading politicians to reform, the partisan distribution of work and other ‘scare benefits’ continues to some degree, as exemplified by the political murders over job distribution in Temple Hall in 2002. The recent violent events in Spanish Town have also been identified by academics and activists (such as Horace Levy during an interview for this study) as conflict over “spoils” following the gains by the JLP in islandwide regional elections. An adolescent detainee at the Hilltop Juvenile Correctional Centre pointed out that although it is the politician who distributes work in the community, it is the don who decides who gets the work. 21

Ibid. Ian Boyne in The Gleaner, February 8, 2004: “De-linking Politics and Crime”. 23 The Gleaner, February 8, 2004: Partisan Politics and Job Allocation. 22

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The relations with state security forces vary according by community. In Craig Town, police and soldiers were observed driving through the community and although there is a police station at an entrance to the neighbourhood, police were not seen patrolling on foot during field-work. A community activist said that “the police are seen as key partners;” recently, the relationship had been less strong, however. In certain cases, the community asks the police to go into the community to resolve problems. In interviews and discussions with local youth, they spoke out against police harassment. One gang involved youth at Hilltop said that, “some police wi frame yu and plant tings pon yu when dem ketch yu because dem know seh yu a bad man, mi si dat fi mi self.”24 In Spanish Town, Richardson-Pious of Children First said that when she first began work in the community, reports of police abuse against children were rife. However, said Pious, “we have done a lot of work with the police and improved community relations.” A key component of the peace negotiations and conflict resolution efforts that have occurred in August Town has been improved community-police relations. Inspector Budhoo of the August Town Constabulary said that “when I came here in 1998 the relationship between the police and the public was terrible. The public resented me, the police not reaching out to the people – the citizens were viewed as gunmen...This is proactive policing where we try and get to know everyone in the community.” Police have, said the inspector, divided August Town into four zones with the objective of knowing each citizen and each potential gunman. “When a gunman know you know everybody, the likelihood of committing a crime decreases...the bottom line is that they are not going to give up their guns. But we are trying to educate them not to use them, to use other means such as dialogue…[however] there are people in the corporation that are resistant. The police are a major obstacle for community policing as [some] elements have not bought into it.” Despite positive community policing in areas such as August Town, “kangaroo court justice” is prevalent in gang dominated inner-city areas. One female gang leader said, “We have our own justice, the state does not provide justice. That is one of the things that gives rise to gangs – inadequate justice.” Illegal and Legal Commerce Activity As has been pointed out, area gangs have traditionally benefited from their relationship with local politicians, in terms of control over resources such as jobs and housing. More and more, according to those interviewed and literature cited, area gangs are also involved in conflict over control over resources that come from other criminal activities: the drug trade (in areas such as Tivoli, Greenwich Farms), extortion and the protection racket. According to Inspector Budhoo of the August Town Constabulary, “Jamaica is a transhipment point for drugs, not a drug producer or user” [note that ganja or marijuana is not generally referred to as a drug]. In interview, Levy said that “hard drugs are not widespread. A lot of young people tried them out and rejected them. Ganja is not considered a drug, but something that binds them...[it is] generally thought that Tivoli is a base for hard drugs, or the police seem to think that.” 24

Some police will frame you by planting illegal substances on you because they know that you are a criminal. I have seen that with my own eyes.

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In Craig Town, community residents said that very few residents used crack or cocaine and that its trade would not be allowed. According to one young man, 65% of youths are in “robbin’ line, gun man, knife man” (rob, or use a gun or knife for some kind of economic gain). In Craig Town, there are a few corner shops and bars and a recording studio owned by the community leader, who is a promoter for a major dancehall artist. In August Town, a member of the Jungle Trails corner gang said that extortion is not a problem in the community. A community activist said that in August Town, “coke and crack are not an issue.” Claudette Richardson-Pious commented on the emphasis amongst gang members on making money and gaining respect: “It is about money. Being in charge. Once you have a gun you are a big man.” Interviewees consistently pointed out that a lack of opportunity and unemployment is key to young people’s involvement in gangs. “The chief problems for the people of the communities studied, by their own account, are the violence and crime combination, and unemployment.”25 Said Richardson-Pious: “they [local youth] tell us that what is important…is to ‘be somebody.’ They say that, what else can they do? They see their out as being a DJ or a criminal.” Evidence of the importance of extortion and the continuity of patronage involving dons and area gangs is the fact that “the homicide rate in Kingston has fallen by 23%, and homicides are down in West Kingston due to a truce between Dudus, the Tivoli don (JLP) and Zekes from Matthews Lane (PNP). Between them they have divided up downtown Kingston and the extortion racket. The truce came about through their both being granted a contract to provide security at Kingston Public Hospital” (interview with Horace Levy). Armed Confrontation Political violence is normally between two or more rival communities, each supporting either the PNP or the JLP, and occurs during the run up to, during, or directly after elections. Turf war are conflicts between two or more communities that may come about over territorial or leadership disputes (the desire to establish oneself as a don in a particular community) and disputes over extortion or control of other illegal activities. There are also conflicts that arise over perceived offences made by one community to another. Youths interviewed said that this may include retaliation for rape, robbery and so on. Some killings may be accepted as retaliatory acts. “Recently, lower Trench Town people killed two or three from Denham Town (a Tivoli ally) but there was no retaliation. Tivoli people said that the killings were accepted as retaliation for the killings of youth [from Trench Town] during the 1992 elections that had not yet been avenged” (interview with Horace Levy). Confrontations may occur with the police or the army during ‘politics’ or ‘turf ’ war or when police officers are seen as being too heavy-handed (as may have been the case in Denham Town following the shooting of a young boy.26 Sergeant David White, Police Federation chairman, told the newspaper The Gleaner that zinc fence communities27 are 25

Horace, L (1996) They Cry ‘Respect’!: Urban Violence and Poverty in Jamaica. Kingston: University of the West Indies. 26 Daily Observer February 14, 2004: “Denham Town Explodes”. 27 So-called due to the use of zinc as fencing in inner-city areas.

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“too dangerous for the police...These places depict where persons are at war. We were trained as peacemakers, we are not soldiers.”28 With the new sources of income, often earned abroad or sent from relatives abroad, and with the drug trade, guns became more widely available on the island. “But it was the politicians who first issued guns on a wide scale, particularly in and around 1980. And many link the decline in discipline specifically to the introduction of the gun and therefore to politics, its initial source.”29 In interviews and discussions with youths in the communities and with a police inspector, they were able to name the following types of guns (or gun manufacturers) as available: Taurus, AK-47, Glocks, Browning, M9s. According to the inspector, it was not possible for a gang member to openly carry an AK-47 in the community of August Town. Guns are not out in the open, but are readily available when need be. During one group interview a man lifted up his shirt and showed off his gun. In discussions, boys as young as 16 quickly identified types of guns shown in photographs of youth in the drug trade in Rio de Janeiro, although they said that they had not used a gun. Child and Youth Involvement Residents, activists, community leaders/dons and academics all agreed that younger children and youths are becoming involved in organised armed violence in Jamaica. Most spoke of an earlier time, perhaps in the 70s and 80s, when violence was carried out by “bad men” and “big men” who tended to not involve children and youth. However, there was not consistent agreement at what age child and youth involvement may occur and what might be considered an “acceptable” age by some actors for children/youth to become involved. “Guns are easily available today and are present in large numbers in the hands of youth in their teens, who use them with abandon and recognise no leader but a sub-area or a corner don or gang.”30 At the same time, in two of the communities studied, there are clear indications that early child/adolescent involvement in gang violence is not tolerated by the community or the area leaders/dons/gangs. However, those children may be involved in corner or hangout gangs where they exist. Children are partially socialised to become involved through growing up in a gang environment and early exposure to gangs and guns. “People just grow in da system. You live what you learn, generation after generation.” A police inspector interviewed refers to a ghetto culture that encourages child and youth involvement and that “you grow up in a community and you follow.” In discussions with children and youth in both Craig Town and August Town, the book Children of the Drug Trade: A Case Study of Children in Organised Armed Violence in Rio de Janeiro31 was passed around. The reactions to the photos of youth as young as 12 or 13 hold28

The Gleaner February 4, 2004: “Move to end ‘zinc fence patrols”. Horace, L (1996) They Cry ‘Respect’!: Urban Violence and Poverty in Jamaica. Kingston: University of the West Indies. 30 Ibid. 31 Dowdney, LT, “Children of the Drug Trade: A Case Study of Organised Armed Violence in Rio de Janeiro”, Viva Rio / ISER, 7 Letras, Rio de Janeiro, 2003. 29

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ing guns is one of awe and fascination, and it is clear that involvement at such an early age is not typical in the community. Older youths said that they would not want a 12 year old involved and that they would prevent their involvement. Several said that 14 is “man nuff.” An August Town community activist mentioned “a shift in age, you see more early teens involved in gangs through the corners, just hanging-out. They exert their manhood through certain types of behaviour. First through how you articulate yourself, through dancehall and the need to command respect, the number of girls, kids fathered and guns owned.” During interview, Dr. Kingsley Stewart of the University of the West Indies commented that organised extortion and drug trafficking “need[s] man power […and] organised crime needs soldiers...and the children see their chance for upward mobility.” He estimates that children as young as 12 years old may be used to carry weapons and that adolescents are using guns by 14 or 15 years. “There is increased access to guns. In the 70s older people would never allow a 12 or 13 year-old to be armed.” Said Richardson-Pious, “we are now seeing 14 year-olds that are involved. Sometimes they are recruited to transport or be lookouts, it is from this early involvement that they are recruited .” The following data shows a strong correlation between what interviewees assert: that children, adolescents and young men are actively involved in armed violence, and shifts in crime statistics, which show an increase in homicide rates related to gang activity and control over politically motivated homicides. Table 2. Trend in Murder Rates by Category of Murder (per 100,000 inhabitants) 1997 Domestic Other inter-personal Total individualised conflicts Political Gang rivalry/control ‘Undetermined’** Total inner-group conflict Pursuant of other crimes Other Total population

1993

1988

1983

1.24 (31) 1.17 (29) 1.27 (30) 1.20 (27)* 0.95 (24) 4.49 (111) 3.22 (76) 4.30 (96) 2.19 5.50 4.49 5.66 0.20 (4) 0.57 (14) 0.51 (12) 1.42 (32) 14.10 (340) 7.04 (174) 3.61 (85) 3.12 (70) 10.90 (273) 6.35 (157) 3.43 (81) 3.75 (84) 25.2 8.29 6.55 14.00 5.10 (129) 8.61 41.1

4.00 (99) 2.90 (69) 3.40 (78) 1.51 3.66 2.64 18.7 17.6 26.3

Source: Harriott, A (2003) Understanding Crime in Jamaica: New Challenges for Public Policy. Kingston: University of the West Indies Press. * The first figure is rate: the number of incidents per 100,000 citizens. The second figure, in parentheses, represents the number of incidents. ** According to Harriott, these are mainly victims of organised crime-type assassinations, community border control, and internal garrison control and community justice.

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As Table 2 clearly demonstrates, amongst all categories presented, murders caused by ‘gang/rivalry control’ and ‘undetermined causes’ (that according to Harriott are mostly linked to crime and organised violence) increased most substantially between 1983 and 1997. A total of 2,892 persons were arrested for major offences in 2000. For all the offences listed as major crimes, the age group 20 – 25 accounted for the highest number (36.0 percent) of arrests, followed by the 26-30 age group (20.0 percent). The age group 16 – 19 followed with 19.5% of arrests. A total of 649 major crimes were committed by youths 17 years and under in 2000. In 2000, 173 males and 30 females aged 10 – 19 were treated for gunshot wounds in Jamaican public hospitals, compared to 432 males and 49 females aged 20 – 29 (out of a total of 1,229 persons treated for gunshot wounds).32 II. COAV PROFILES Personal Histories A 27 year-old August Town former gang member was born in the community where he still lives with his family (mother and siblings) whom he considers poor. The family has what he describes as a cordial relationship. He completed secondary school. Another former gang member from August Town is 31 years old, and was also born in the community, where he still lives with his mother and siblings. He graduated from secondary school and is currently employed by a lighting and staging company. One juvenile detained at the Hilltop Juvenile Correctional Centre from a Kingston inner-city community said that he and his mother witnessed his father killed by police. His father was a gunman and most of his brothers, one of whom is in prison, and his cousins are involved in criminal activity. He said that his father had as many as 20 children, two of whom were with his mother. Another juvenile detainee and gang member from the Portmore area near Kingston lived with his father and stepmother. His mother lives overseas. His friends at school are not involved in gang activity, and he said his role model is his older brother who “nuh watch nuh face” [doesn’t care about anyone or anything]. A 17 year-old juvenile detained at Hilltop from an inner-city Kingston neighbourhood lived with his mother and half brothers and sisters before detention. His father has emigrated, and sends money home. He said that he rarely attended class and carried a gun to school, from which he was eventually expelled. Involvement An August Town former gang member joined a gang when he was 13 years old, and said that he was influenced by a friend. The group did not start out as a gang, but developed into a corner gang over time. He did not have a specific role, saying that, “I did not have any main function. We all angle guns, we all look out for each other’s security. We used to sell drugs but did not last long as we eat out the profit...I did not have any one function in the gang. I was not given any orders by anyone. Our gang was different. We were all bad man so no one give or take any order. Mi no tek no talk from no one. I was paid by what I earned. Every man for himself.” 32

Planning Institute of Jamaica, using data from the Ministry of Health

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Another former gang member from August Town joined a corner gang when he was 11 years old. “I joined a gang with bredren I grew up with and so we formed ourselves into a gang.” On his role, he said that “When guns were introduced into the gang I was in charge of ‘locking’ the guns, locking the gun in Jamaican terms means that I was responsible for the safe keeping of the guns...this function came with the introduction of the guns in the gang. The gang did not pay me, but when we go on a robbery we share up what was gained.” An adolescent detained at Hilltop said that his father was a gunman and that his brothers and cousins also used guns. Another claimed that he found himself in bad company, getting involved in a gang that carried out robberies. He was eventually charged with illegal possession of a firearm and sent to Hilltop. A female gang leader said that she rose up in the ranks of the gang because of her leadership skills and her family connections within the gang. She also claimed that membership provided her with security; when she left the community she went with armed protection, as due to her political affiliations (PNP) she believed that other-party supporters were a potential threat to her safety. Armed Violence A gang-involved adolescent detained at Hilltop was detained after attempting to kill a young man over a perceived slight. He had previously tried to kill his stepfather with a homemade shot gun. A 17 year-old at Hilltop said that he and his friends would carry knives and ice picks to school in case they had to defend themselves or if they were involved in “war.” He noted that “wi mostly have gang war and dem ting deh mi never a tink, everything was negative, as somebody seh something mi did wan’ war, mi did ignorant and dark.”33 In a discussion with a group of 14 to 16 year-olds, none said that they had handled a gun, although all had seen them and were able to identify guns in photos. In August Town, according to a 22 year-old man who said that he has friends who are involved in gangs, 14 year-olds would not be allowed to take part. “Won’t give a 14 year-old a gun – too risky […] A 16 year-old, that depends. No one really is gonna ask your age. There are 16 yearolds involved, but not down this section.” A former gang member from August Town said, “I used a gun. It belonged to my friend. It was a handgun, but sometimes we borrowed a sub-machine gun or rifle. I was 15-16 years old. I buy my own bullets and went in the bushes and set up targets and train myself. I also used it when defending my corner...No, I don’t remember shooting anybody...but I was arrested by the police and charged with possession of a firearm. Gun is nice, gun is protection. When you have it no guy can disrespect you.” A former corner gang member was 17 when he first used a gun. “Yes, I used guns in the gang, [it] belonged to the leader of the gang. We had a 9mm handgun...I used guns such as [a] pump rifle and Mack 11 sub-machine guns.” Asked about his reasons for using a gun, he said it was to “to defend our corner and to get girls” and he used guns “when we go on robbery, when we are defending our corner we also defend our party...we are PNP supporters.” He went on to say that “I have never been shot, but I have been shot at a num33

In those times I wasn’t thinking, everything was negative, as someone attempted to talk to me I wanted to fight, I was ignorant and backward.

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ber of times during the elections and when me are defending our corner...I have seen one of my friends shot and killed by the police. We were in a shoot out with some other guys and the police got involved and he was shot and killed.” On his attitude to guns now, he said that “I like guns is nice, it make me feel so powerful.” The female gang leader interviewed said that, “Survival means that sometimes you have to kill somebody.” She had never killed anyone and had never used a gun, but had been involved in violence and said that she knew of one female gang member who owns an AK-47. Not long after this study was conducted, she was shot and killed by a member of the Jamaica Defence Force who was patrolling August Town after Hurricane Ivan had caused widespread damage on the island. The circumstances around the death are not entirely clear, but reports are that the victim was unarmed. Future Perspectives A one-time August Town gang member said that he left his gang “for a number of reasons. One, the gang can’t give me what I wanted. I get in too many troubles. Based on my expectations, [future perspectives] is not good.” A member of the Jungle 12 corner gang said that the key problems in the community are, “hunger, vengeance/retaliation, conflict and unemployment/low economic status.” She goes on to say that, “to change, have to change social conditions of innercities. Better housing, plumbing, schools, economic conditions. Livin’ in one room, gotta take up a gun. There’s no other way. Persons hungry! You change the social conditions you affect people’s thinking, behaviour.” A juvenile detained at Hilltop and involved in a gang said that he wanted to put his past behind him and get into the Jamaican German Automobile School. Another Hilltop detainee and gang member from Kingston said that he planned to go to work and back to school but if “nutten nah gwaan” [if nothing happens] he will go back to crime. A similar statement was made by another Hilltop adolescent involved in gang activity, who said that he will “take up the gun again” if he is unable to study or work upon release. III. SOCIAL PROGRAMMES TARGETING COAV While there are several important initiatives that seek to address the involvement of children and youth in organised armed violence in Jamaica, including the UWI government-supported Peace Management Initiative, three organisations stand out for their community-based work: the August Town Sports and Community Development Foundation, Children First of Spanish Town and the Craig Town Youth Organisation. August Town Sports and Community Development Foundation The August Town Sports and Community Development Foundation uses football to provide young people aged eight to 20 with the skills to avoid becoming involved in, or the means to leave behind, violence. Young boys and men participate in two football teams, as well as conflict resolution classes, human rights education and life skills building. The Foundation has helped to send young leaders, both men and women, to university and groups of community members for conflict resolution training in the US. Foundation leader Kenneth Wilson has been instrumental in the calling of a truce between 246

rival areas and gangs in what was one of the city’s more violent communities as well as instituting community policing in the area. The results of these efforts in August Town are encouraging. There has been a 50% decrease in murders and a 56% decrease in crime in the area since community policing began. While violence returned in 2001, escalating into ten political murders in 2002, the truce has since held, with no deaths recorded during recent local elections. Children First Formerly the Save the Children (UK) Spanish Town Marginalised Youth Programme, Children First was transformed into an independent NGO and officially launched on June 17, 1997. The programme works with over 700 street children and potential street children aged three to 18 in the city of Spanish Town. Children First is an inclusive initiative that seeks to improve the lives of not only at-risk children but also their families; for example, parents have received help in how to supplement family income. Children benefit from skills training, life skills education including sexual and environmental education, and educational assistance including help with fees and other initiatives. In the face of the recent problems involving armed violence in Spanish Town, Children First plans to focus on the connections between violence and boys and young men. “One of the things we are positioning ourselves to do this year is to do a major piece of work looking at violence and young men” said director Claudette Richardson-Pious. “In Spanish Town violence has taken on a new dimension. We should look at how we socialise our men in the community.” Craig Town Youth Organisation The Craig Town Youth Organisation, established in 1989, has developed and utilised an integrated approach to community development and crime prevention in a community that has had one of the highest homicide rates in Jamaica. Programmes developed by the organisation include the Community Adult Remedial Education (CARE) Programme, a remedial education initiative benefiting mostly young men between the ages of 15 and 35 who are or were involved in criminal activities. The Craig Town Youth Organisation designed the programme with the support of the University of the West Indies, Mona, and delivers classes in Maths, English and Philosophy. Recommendations In interviews and group discussions, adolescents and youths involved in organised armed violence, community members and leaders listed the following causes for gang membership and youth involvement in violence in Jamaica: lack of money and employment opportunities; few educational opportunities; idleness (nothing to do); lack of community support and counselling; attraction of ‘gangster lifestyle’ and the influence of a popular culture glorifying violence; the need to prove one’s ‘manhood’; peer influence and pressure; and the desire to make one’s mark as a ‘bad man.’ The two organisations described above seek to provide the skills for children, adolescents and youth, particularly boys and men, to avoid becoming involved, or to end their involvement in, organised violence. At the same time, it is the responsibility of the Jamai247

can government to ensure that the effort to end organised armed violence in the country, and the involvement of the country’s youth in it, and not be reduced to law enforcement and repressive policing measures. Efforts to institute community policing, as evidenced in August Town, must be supported, in addition to multi-sector initiatives that recognise the complexity of the issue by seeking to provide solutions that include employment and income generation, offer educational opportunities and teach the skills that enable young people to avoid violence. It is also up to the state to fully end the partisan distribution of work and other benefits —which reinforces the ties between some politicians and gang leaders— to eliminate the involvement of the state forces in human rights abuses that frequently target adolescents and youth from inner-city communities, and to ensure that justice is available for all. *This chapter is dedicated to the memory of research participant and University of the West Indies social work student Sandra Sewell, shot and killed by the Jamaican army on September 19, 2004.

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AN EMPIRICAL SURVEY OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN ORGANISED ARMED VIOLENCE IN NIGERIA: EGBESU BOYS, OPC AND BAKASSI BOYS AS A CASE STUDY Mohammed Ibrahim, Centre for Democracy and Development This chapter focuses on armed vigilante groups, such as the Bakassi Boys, and ethnic-militias, such as the Egbesu Boys and the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC). The report is divided into three parts. Part One gives a contextualised summary of these groups. Part Two takes a closer look at the human face of this phenomenon, with profiles of individuals involved. Part Three examines possible solutions to the problem, with an evaluation of relevant social programmes and policies. A fulllength version of the report summarised in this chapter can be found at www.coav.org.br. Introduction This study by the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) addresses adolescent and youth involvement in three armed groups operating in Nigeria: the Bakassi Boys in the East, Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) in the Southwest and the Egbesu Boys of Africa in the Niger Delta. Since the implementation of democratic rule in May 1999, different armed groups known as vigilantes and militias have evolved from nearly every geographical, ethnic and social section of Nigeria. As vehicles for expressing desertion from the state in a demonstration of local autonomy, these groups have been especially prevalent post-1998. For a society that suffered a severe deterioration in its economy and politics as the result of thirty years of military rule, the assumption that democracy would lead to peace and development was understandable. However, the present democratic era in Nigeria has seen incessant violent conflict with a growing number of children and young people joining armed vigilante groups and ethnic/religious militias. Although observers and commentators have given various reasons for the increased participation of young people in nonstate organised armed violence in Nigeria, until now there has been no qualitative or quantitative research that focuses on this problem within the country. Methodology Semi-structured oral interviews were carried out with 56 adolescents and youth (this included 37 members of the groups being studied and 19 non-members who reside in the communities where the groups carry out their activities) between 14 – 27 years of age. In addition, interviews were conducted with officials from the Police Department Forensic Science Laboratory, the Ministries of Health, Youth, Sports and Culture, non-governmental and religious organisations. Limited quantitative data regarding accident and firearm mortality rates of the selected study area were obtained from the Federal Office of Statistics and the Police Department Forensic Science Laboratory. An extensive literature review was also conducted. Due to the sensitive nature of this research, several problems were encountered. As a consequence of the withdrawal of all security from Government House by the Nigerian police in the state of Enugu, the Bakassi Boys effectively became the private army of Governor Chris Ngige. Consequently, many of those who were approached to comment on the 249

Bakassi Boys declined to do so as they felt distrustful of the nature of the interviews and how the information would be used. In the Niger Delta, the subject of the study provoked painful memories amongst interviewees of repression by state security agents. Furthermore, as many of the problems that have led to the rise of youth militancy within the region continue, many residents support the Egbesu Boys’ struggle against these perceived injustices and any reference to the subject often provoked suspicion. Clashes also took place during this period between the Egbesu Boys and the Nigerian armed forces. Respondents and key informants were also suspicious of outsiders due to the fact that security agents had earlier visited the area in an attempt to arrest members of the Egbesu Boys. In addition to the vigilante groups and ethnic-militia mentioned above, this study had originally planned to include an investigation of the Arewa Peoples Congress (APC). However, interviews with young members of the APC, in the primarily Muslim North, were not possible due to difficulties encountered in finding a researcher who had adequate knowledge of the Hausa language and safe access to the group. I. CONTEXUALISED SUMMARY OF COAV Area of Study Profile Nigeria lies on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa. The 1991 Population Census put Nigeria’s population at 88.9 million. At a growth rate of 2.8% per annum, this was projected to have reached around 115 million in 2000. With more than 235 ethnic groups, Nigeria’s population is predominantly young, with six out of every ten Nigerians under 25 years of age. Nigeria has experienced falling living standards since 1980 and seventy percent of the population survives on less than one dollar a day. Sixtyseven percent of the population is rural with the rest residing in urban and semi-urban areas. Within urban centres, there are often between six and eight people living in one room.1 Brief Historical Analysis of the Situation After independence in 1960, Nigeria underwent thirty years of military rule (19661979 and 1983-1999). During these periods, political and social values were deeply undermined. There was a deliberate and strategic weakening by the ruling powers of the political and socio-economic well-being of Nigerians as a tool for domination and control, as well as the use of “fear” and “divide-and-rule” tactics to keep Nigerian citizens from organising. Since democratic rule was established in 1999, the intense competition for political space has led to further violence, threatening democracy. As a result of growing crime and violence over the last ten years and the inability of law enforcement agencies to provide adequate protection, the general population has tended to resort to ethnic militia and other “self-help” security forces to protect their property and their lives. Due to the frequent involvement of militias in inter/intra communal violence, and in conflict with state forces, adolescents and youths are used to varying degrees, as could be observed during the recent violence surrounding the Miss World pageant in Nigeria2 1

Federal Republic of Nigeria Annual Abstract of Statistics 2001 (ed.) Federal Office of Statistics. Abuja, Nigeria See This Day, November 29, 2002, and Babawale, T. 2001 The Rise of Ethnic Militias, Delegitimisation of the State, and the Threat to Nigerian Federalism-West Africa Review ISSN:1525-4488.

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and during other violent episodes in the Niger Delta.3 Using national press reports, CDD compiled a list of over 30 violent disturbances within the country that occurred between May 15, 1999, and August 24, 2003. The majority of incidents were religious or ethnic clashes and according to the press reports collected, resulted in a total of 2,351 deaths, including 12 policemen, 25 soldiers and nine Naval Officers. Actors Involved There are four prominent organised armed groups operating as ethnic-militias and vigilantes in Nigeria: Oodua Peoples Congress in the Southwest (Yoruba); Bakassi Boys in the Southeast (Igbo); Egbesu Boys of Africa in the Niger Delta, and the Arewa People’s Congress in the North (Hausa-Fulani). This study concerns three of these groups: Oodua Peoples Congress, Bakassi Boys and Egbesu Boys of Africa. Oodua Peoples Congress The Oodua Peoples Congress was established in August 1994 as an ethnic and nationalist organisation with the primary aim of defending, protecting and promoting Yoruba interests.4 The struggle against military repression and frustration at political and economic marginalisation acted as strong motivating factors to galvanise the disenfranchised, particularly young people, in support of the OPC.5 As the OPC evolved, a split emerged between two opposing factions: the moderates and a more radical wing led by Gani Adams that consists mainly of young supporters. OPC activities have ranged from political agitation for Yoruba autonomy to violent confrontation with members of other ethnic groups, and, more recently, vigilantism and crime fighting. It is these two main areas of activity—ethnic militancy and vigilantism—that most involve children and youth. Bakassi Boys The origin of the Bakassi Boys, which is primarily made up of Igbo members, has been traced to the decision by traders in the market city of Aba, in the Southeast, to halt the armed robberies that plagued the area6 . High crime levels prompted the shoemakers’ association in the Ariaria market to organise a self-defence vigilante group. The vigilante group was provided with a headquarters, regular salaries and money to purchase arms by the traders. 7 Since their establishment, the Bakassi Boys have been accused of torturing criminal suspects and carrying out numerous summary executions.8 3

See Human Rights Watch, 2003 “The O’Odua People’s Congress:Fighting Violence with Violence” Speciel Report on Nigeria Vol. 15, No. 4 (A), and CDHR (Committee for the Defence of Human Rights), 1997 Annual Report on the Human Rights Situation in Nigeria. Lagos. 4 Oodua People’s Congress Constitution, “Aims and objectives of OPC” 5 Olaniyan, O A 2002. M.Sc. Research Thesis “OPC as an Armed Ethnic Militia.” Department of Political Science, University of Ibadan. 6 Ukiwo, U. 2002. “Deus ex machina or Frankenstein Monster? The Changing Roles of Bakassi Boys in Eastern Nigeria.” Journal of Democracy and Development” Vol. 2 7 Sunday Tribune February 6, 2000 8 2001 report “Blood Trail: Repression and Resistance in the Niger Delta” of the Civil Liberties Organisation, Lagos.

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The Egbesu Boys of Africa The Ijaw nationality is the fourth largest ethnic group in Nigeria; it is scattered across six states in the Niger Delta in which the Egbesu Boys are active. Since the discovery of crude oil in 1956 in Ijawland there has been massive economic exploitation by multinational oil companies in collaboration with the military dictatorships.9 In the 1990s, communities within oil-producing regions of the Delta became increasingly divided between those members of the elite or of a particular ethnic group who were seen as having benefited from the oil, and the majority of the population,10 often resulting in inter/intra group conflict.11 As a result of these violent confrontations, the Nigerian military occupied the region in 1998. In the late 1990s, Ijaw youth organisers called for a withdrawal of all military forces from the Niger Delta and a halt to oil production in their communities. After their request was ignored by the federal government, militants began Operation Climate Change, which included the occupation of oil company property, the kidnapping of company officials, and demands made for reparations to compensate for years of environmental damage. Such actions led to killings by both the security forces and the young people involved in the unrest. Various communities and youth organisations resorted to forming organised and armed self-protection groups against state forces, including the Egbesu Boys of Africa.12 Command Structure The OPC has a strict hierarchical structure, chain of command, and efficient system of communication. It has structures and executive committees at national and state levels, with the annual National Conference as its supreme decision-making body, and the National Executive Council as its governing body. At the local level every member is required to belong to a branch: these are grouped into zones that are in turn grouped into sub-regions. The militant youth wing of the Gani Adams (radical) faction is known as Eso, and includes a high number of armed adolescent members. The Bakassi Boys are also a highly structured organisation with a defined chain of command. Membership is primarily drawn from traders in the different markets. Recruitment of vigilantes is carried out by dividing commercial markets into zones, from which six vigilantes are selected. The newly recruited members undergo training on the rules of the organisation for two months before they are sent out on any operation. The group has about 3,500 members across all eastern states of Nigeria.13 In August 2000, the group was officially established in Onitsha by the Anambra state government under the name Anambra State Vigilante Services.14 9

Eson, O P. 2000. “The Political Economy of Oil Extraction” in CDHR publication “Boiling Point” Akani, C. “The Nature of Conflicts in the Niger Delta.” Paper presented in 2002 at a conflict management workshop in Delta State, Nigeria. 11 Saro-Wiwa, K. 1998. Genocide in Nigeria: the Ogoni Tragedy. London: Saros International; Human Rights Watch. 2003. The Price of Oil. New York: HRW. 12 Olorode, O.O 2000. “The Crises in the Oil Producing Communities in Nigeria” in CDHR publication “Boiling Point.” 13 Williams, O. “Political, Agenda and Modus Operandi of the Bakassi Boys in Eastern Nigeria.” Paper presented at the 2003 conference on Urban Violence, Ethnic Militia and the Challenge of Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria. 14 Law no.9 – Anambra State Vigilante Services Law. Anambra State Official Gazette August 4, 2000. 10

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The Egbesu Boys are estimated to have around 5,000 Ijaw youth members drawn from already existing groups in the region.15 These groups agreed to come together under the Ijaw Youth Council with the Egbesu Boys serving as the militant wing of the group. Although administrative power is in the hands of the president, who holds regular parliaments in the clans, towns and villages of Ijawland, the Egbesu Boys are considered a grassroots youth organisation. Relations with the Community Community relations are characterised by both fear of the armed groups amongst local residents, as well as a perception that they are legitimate defenders of community interests and an alternative to the state’s inability to provide security. Residents interviewed by researchers in Lagos state confirmed that the OPC maintains an active presence at all hours, taking on a policing role. Residents also said that the OPC are invited by community members, particularly land owners, to work as security at official gatherings and other high-profile events. A government official interviewed for this study confirmed that the local government employs the OPC to collect taxes. As armed groups that are frequently involved in ethnic violence, members of ‘rival’ ethnic groups have been frequently targeted by the militias. One Hausa man living in Lagos told researchers: “We have felt especially uneasy, threatened and uncomfortable by the presence of OPC patrols. We believe that they are only looking after Yoruba interests and are hostile towards other tribes.” While supported by some community members, leaders and ethnic associations, attitudes by many residents towards the Bakassi Boys and the Egbesu Boys are also characterised by fear and helplessness. One resident explained: “No one dare challenge Bakassi, no one talks about their activities in this town.” Illegal and Legal Commerce Activity Funding for vigilante group activities comes from a variety of sources, including local businesses, local governments (despite a federal ban on vigilante groups), and forced contributions from residents. A local government official interviewed for this study said that between 10% and 20% of local levies collected by OPC members go to the council, with the rest being kept by the OPC. Although Bakassi Boy funding initially came from the traders’ association, the chairman of the Abia vigilante group (part of the Bakassi Boys), Onwuchekwa Ulu, recently said that funding also comes from the Abia state government and donations and levies collected from the public. The Bakassi Boys have benefited from the support of all three state governments where they operate – Abia, Anambra and Imo – and have been provided with offices, uniforms, vehicles and salaries.16 Due to the Egbesu Boys’ use of sophisticated weaponry, speedboats and satellite telecommunication equipment, it is believed that they are well financed by highly influential members of the community.17 One member of the Egbesu Boys said that they were given 15

Okonta, I. 2000. “The Lingering Crisis in Nigeria’s Niger Delta and Suggestions for a Peaceful Resolution.” Working Paper No. 1 of the Centre for Democracy and Development. 16 Insider Weekly, July 16, 2001 17 “Niger Delta: 10 Killed in Renewed Ethnic War,” This Day, Monday July 28, 2003

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monetary and technical assistance from sympathetic retired military personnel. Children between the ages of seven and 15 years are reported to be involved in the illegal sale of petroleum products to buy arms for the APC18 and kidnapping and robbery are also funding sources. Armed Confrontations The OPC has been involved in numerous acts of violence and its members have killed or injured hundreds of people, many of whom are Hausa or people suspected to be of northern Nigerian origin.19 In addition to armed confrontations with the state security forces and oil company personnel, the Egbesu Boys are in regular dispute with other ethnic groups within the region. In May 1999, the Itsekiri Survival Movement claimed that a group of Egbesu boys, believed to be from the Ijaw Armed Youth, had kidnapped 186 men, women and children during a conflict with the Itsekiri Youth. The majority of these kidnap victims were murdered and 30 Itsekiri towns and villages were subsequently burnt.20 Armed conflict in the Niger Delta has included inter/intra group violence as well as conflict with the federal government. Armed youth kidnapped and eventually killed 12 police officers in Odi, Bayelsa state in November of 1999.21 The government responded to the killing by sending in troops, resulting in the deaths of hundreds, including both local residents and members of the armed forces. Documented sources have shown that the Bakassi Boys have been responsible for scores of summary executions, perhaps in the hundreds.22 According to a report of the 2000 Eye Newsletter, at least nine children and young people were killed by the Bakassi Boys on April 10, 2000. The victims ranged in age from 13 to 20 years. Adolescent and Youth Involvement It was observed during fieldwork for this research that the section of the OPC under Gani Adams has a high number of adolescent members who are under 17 years of age. Many Eso members are recruited from the numerous street children within the region. One interviewee said that if he had not joined the Eso, he might “have been among those [street children] caught and burnt alive as suspected armed robbers.” In December 2002 the police arrested scores of OPC members of the Gani Adams faction in Southwest Nigeria. Those arrested were mainly youth and adolescents between the ages of 16 and 24 years old and faced charges including attempted murder, unlawful possession of weapons, and belonging to an unlawful society.23 According to residents of areas where the Bakassi Boys are active, adolescents under the age of 18 years can be seen patrolling the streets and the markets in their communi18

IPCR 2003. Nigeria: Strategic Conflict Assessment. Consolidated and Zonal Reports. Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution. 19 Integrated Regional Information Network newsletter of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 20 October 2000. 20 Amnesty International 1999 Annual Report on Nigeria. 21 Okonta, ibid 22 2001 report “Blood Trail: Repression and Resistance in the Niger Delta” of the Civil Liberties Organisation, Lagos. 23 See Human Rights Watch 2001: Nigeria; Human Rights Development.

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ties. Community members told researchers that there may be as many as 200 children, adolescents and young people under the age of 20 in the Aba section of the Bakassi Boys. In the Niger Delta, researchers observed that minors were being trained in the use of arms and driving speedboats. Such training has led to the involvement of younger adolescents and youths in armed confrontations with rival groups and state forces. In January 1999, Wariebi Ajoko, a 14-year-old boy was reported to be among the more than twenty youth shot dead by soldiers who had been deployed to curb the rise in crude oil theft and kidnapping in Bayelsa state.24 One interviewee told researchers, “now the youth of the Niger Delta are fed up, and they have declared a people’s war on the oil companies and government forces.” In the North, an outbreak of religious rioting in Kaduna, claiming more than 200 lives, was instigated by Muslim indignation at Nigeria’s plans to host the Miss World beauty pageant. Angered by a commentary on the Miss World pageant appearing in a major national newspaper, crowds of armed children burned the publication’s Kaduna offices and then attacked Christian sites and political targets in central sections of the city. Special Focus: Small Arms and Light Weapons in Nigeria No discussion on organised armed violence in Nigeria is complete without a mention of the role of firearms. Young people involved in armed groups in Nigeria are using weapons ranging from AK47s and grenade launchers to the locally made ogbunigwe weapon, a crudely-built but highly effective type of bazooka used by the Egbesu Boys. The deployment of Nigerian troops in West Africa is perceived as a major source of unauthorised small arms in the country,25 and military personnel, both retired and active, are suspected of providing weapons to armed groups. The Inspector General of Nigerian Police reported that more than 7,739 rounds of ammunition and 872 weapons were recovered from unauthorised individuals and armed groups in the last year.26 II. COAV PROFILES Personal Histories Personal histories were recorded through the use of semi-structured interviews with adolescents and youths currently or previously involved in armed groups, and with adolescents and youths not involved but living in areas where the groups are active in the states of Lagos (Southwest), Abia (Southeast) and in Bayelsa, Wari and Rivers states in the Niger Delta. A total of 15 respondents (10 adolescent and youth members of the Bakassi Boys and five non-involved adolescents and youth from the local community) were interviewed in Abia. Six of the respondents were in the 16-17 year-old age group and the remaining nine were between the ages of 18 and 23 years. All respondents were male and of Igbo ethnic origin. For research on the Egbesu Boys of Africa, a total of 15 respondents (10 adolescent and youth members of the Egbesu Boys and 5 non-member adolescents and youth from the local community) between the ages of 14 and 25 were interviewed in communities in the 24

Amnesty International press release: “Fears of human rights violations as troops pour into Niger Delta”. November 23, 1999. 25 IPCR, ibid. 26 Nigerian Tribune August 8, 2003

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Niger Delta. All respondents were male and of Ijaw ethnic origin. Thirty-six people were interviewed for the study on the Oodua Peoples Congress in the Mushin area of Lagos state, in Southwest Nigeria. This included 17 youth and adolescent members of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) and 19 local residents who were not members of the OPC. All respondents were of Yoruba ethnic origin. Almost half of respondents were between the ages of 14 to 17 years, with the majority under the age of 19. Two of the OPC members interviewed were female, although respondents said that women do not participate in organised violence. Family Background The majority of respondents to the field survey in Abia, where the Bakassi Boys are active, and 14 of the 15 Egbesu Boys interviewed said that they were born in villages and had migrated to the city in search of work. They also said that they are not on good terms with their immediate family or elders. One 18 year-old Egbesu member said: “The elders in this community have betrayed the youth and we think we should not have anything to do with them because they collect money from those in government and big men in the oil companies.” Six out of the 17 OPC members interviewed in Lagos claimed to have been born in suburban areas of Southwest Nigeria, while 11 said that they were born in the city of Lagos. Eleven said that they did not live with their parents and are not on good terms with them. The breakdown of the traditional family unit caused by the socio-economic crisis has left young people vulnerable to recruitment into organised armed groups like the OPC. As one teenage member said: “Since my parents came to Lagos things have not been easy for us. My father left the house one day and never came back. No one, even my mother, knows his whereabouts. I used to be a bus conductor to make some money to help my younger ones but my Alaye [godfather] introduced me to this OPC work...I joined when I was 15 years old.” Educational Background Education was not seen as a priority by most of those interviewed, who indicated instead an interest in having their own businesses and making enough money to raise a family. Half of interviewees had no secondary education. An education was, however, seen as important for their children in the future: “I want to have money and be a very successful trader rather than going to school. You see, the educated people we have in this country today are not the rich ones, so going to school is not my priority...making money and providing my family with all the good things of life, including an education, is.” Eight out of 17 OPC members interviewed said that they had never had any formal education at all. Interviewees cited poverty as the primary reason for not attending school: “I could not go to school because my parents are not educated and could not send me to school…I am sure if I had gone to school like you [researchers] I would not have joined the OPC. I swear! I would have become a lawyer!” Economic Background Almost all respondents to the field survey indicated that they came from low-income families. Half of Bakassi Boy members said that before joining the group they were unemployed and highlighted this as their principal reason for joining. Over half of the Egbesu Boys interviewed were unemployed before joining and eight of the 17 OPC members in256

terviewed had been previously unemployed. One 16 year-old commented, “Being an OPC member most especially as Eso you earn some good pay and you will be given a gun to work with and people who know you respect you more than when you don’t have any job.” Process of Involvement Six of the 10 Bakassi Boy members interviewed confirmed that they had started working for the Bakassi Boys at 16 years of age as informants before being formally recruited. Formal recruitment, they explained, took place at 17 years of age and involved being selected and then trained. They also claimed that at this age they were allowed to carry firearms. Despite this, a leader told researchers that there are strict criteria for recruitment that includes a minimum age of 18. All Bakassi Boy members claimed to have joined voluntarily. According to one respondent, “fighting crime is everyone’s concern and all able young adults must get involved.” When asked about recruitment and youth and adolescent involvement, one interviewee commented that “recruitment is carried out by dividing commercial markets into zones, from which at least six vigilantes are selected. Newly recruited members undergo training on the rules of the organisation for two months before they are sent out on any operation.” One of the interviewees told researchers that his uncle’s involvement was key to his decision to join the group: “My uncle has been working for Bakassi Boys since 1999 when I was 16 years old, and I used to keep his gun for him at that time...I developed an interest in joining the group at the age of 17.” Similar to the Bakassi Boys in the Southeast, interviewees in the Niger Delta claimed that there is no specific age for joining the Egbesu Boys. However, the majority said that they had first joined the group at the age of 16. Despite this, only when they went through a formal initiation into the group by the high priest at the age of 17 were they allowed to carry firearms. As one youth said, “adolescents recruited into the group do not ordinarily carry firearms or weapons, they need to be spiritually initiated by the priest [first]. They start with small weapons like jerk knifes and daggers.” One of the group leaders interviewed indicated that membership is voluntary and is influenced by personal decisions and patriotism: “The high priest initiated me...Nobody forced me, I went alone after noticing what they are doing to my people. I know Egbesu Boys long ago since I was 13 years old, but I joined fully in 2003 when I became 16.” A 17 year-old member spoke on what roles under 18 year-olds carry out: “We are very active under water and we spy. Let me tell you, you think we are small boys but we are very good swimmers. You know that we lived all our lives here in the river area, so we use these experiences to demobilise boats and we attack, be it police, oil workers or anybody.” When asked if they were paid for spying, he said: “Yes, big money on a good day... A good day is when an oil company pays for the release of their kidnapped staff.” Unlike the Bakassi Boys and the OPC, the recruitment process for the Egbesu Boys comprises of registration and initiation, which involves scarring, a bath or being sprinkled with Egbesu water and an invocation of the Egbesu spirit. Though in theory members are free to disengage from the group if they so choose, researchers found this to be a rare occurrence. Many adolescents become involved as informants. As well as information gath257

ering, these partially-recruited members are used for staging rallies and protests. Partially-recruited members are selected for formal initiation and may then join the group. Most OPC members interviewed had joined at the age of 15. Those young people that were part of the Eso were between the ages of 15 and 20. Many of the respondents were recruited as school dropouts that had joined area boy gangs (gangs of street children involved in petty crime) or other delinquent groups. A 20 year-old member who had joined the OPC at 16, told researchers that he had done so as “…another way of identifying with my ethnic group, the Oodua.” The OPC receives support from ethnic associations and traditional rulers who facilitate the membership process by distributing OPC application forms in each local community within Lagos state. According to one interviewee, recruitment forms are usually obtained from the traditional rulers, while prominent politicians in the community recommend prospective members. Current Involvement As members of the Bakassi Boys, adolescents and youth do not form part of its power structure. Due to the official federal ban on vigilante and militia groups, it is not considered pertinent to bring youth into leadership roles. Although the Chairman may be considered as being in control of every major operation, this can vary in certain situations as some operations may be carried out under the command of youth members. As one 17 year-old said: “Information controls this organisation. If I give very vital information about a crime or any criminal, I will be the leader of that operation because every member of the group will rely on me...We only answer to the chairman if the assignment is from the State House.” Although discipline within the OPC is maintained through suspension or expulsion for breaking the rules, interviewees said that physical torture may occur for offences such as stealing or armed robbery. Gani Adams is ultimately responsible for decision making within the Eso, the militant youth wing of the OPC. One young member said: “Anyone who disobeys the rules would be disciplined and be suspended from the group.” An Eso member and bodyguard to Adams told the researcher that “a serious offence can lead to expulsion or a beating.” A 16 year-old member commented on the role of Gani Adams: “Gani is our Alaye Baba [Godfather] and mostly the brains behind every major activity of the group since he is directly in charge of the militant youth wing. Nobody dare disobey him.” Armed Violence The Nigeria Police Criminal Intelligence Bureau believes that there are as many as a million unregistered handgun owners in the country. Bakassi Boy members said that that they use handguns, assault rifles, locally made pistols and cutlasses for their vigilante activities and operations: “We use assault rifles and colt pistols for our vigilante operations because these criminals now use high calibre guns. We use AK-47s made in the Ukraine.” One member told researchers that despite only being officially allowed to carry firearms when formally admitted, most started carrying firearms when working as informants. One member said that as an informant he had handled a 45 calibre and 9mm that belonged to his nephew, a full member of the Bakassi Boys: “I used to carry these pistols for night patrol when my nephew travelled to Onitsha for business.” 258

When asked if full members go through any practice or formal training on how to use these weapons, one interviewee said that he had had at least three months weapons and crime fighting training. Bakassi youth members saw the use of weapons as important to their work as long as the police failed to do their duty efficiently. Most of the seizures, take-overs and occupations of oil installations, kidnapping of oil workers, and violent encounters with the armed forces in the Niger Delta have been traced to the Egbesu Boys. Researchers encountered two young members openly carrying locally made pistols. Guns are said to be rife in the Delta, especially in Warri town. According to one resident, “those who are 16 and 17 sell guns on the streets instead of going to school.” Egbesu Boys were candid regarding the use of firearms during armed confrontations: “Since the MOPOL [Mobile Police], navy and army started using sophisticated weapons against us, and the oil companies started recruiting police and supplying other groups [rival ethnic groups] with modern weapons, we have also acquired highly sophisticated rifles like AK-47 from ECOMOG,12 hand grenades and locally made rocket launchers.” When researchers asked if members go through any practice or training on how to use weapons, interviewees commented that they do not need much training or practice. One 17-year-old Egbesu Boy said they were only shown how to aim and pull the trigger. However, one of the group leaders interviewed told researchers that “all [members of the] Egbesu Boys militant wing be they young or adult are as well trained as any guerrilla fighter in the world. We have a training ground [that is] well equipped I must tell you.” Members said that the only thing that brings respect and recognition to them is the gun: “You know, when we started this struggle softly the government thought we were not serious and they used our oil money to develop Abuja [Nigeria Federal Capital Territory] and collaborate with the oil company to kill our people...now that we have the guns they are beginning to respect and recognise us.” A group leader claimed that “young ones less than seventeen years old are not allowed to carry firearms. They are, however, allowed to carry machetes during conflict with other groups.” When asked about firearms, one OPC member told researchers, “We frequently used locally made guns, rifles, and machetes during conflict and for the vigilante work or maintaining peace and security at social functions.” A 17 year-old member said that, “We use assault rifles for the vigilante work and sophisticated ones like AK-47s are used when there is a conflict with police or any other rival group.” In contrast to the Egbesu Boys in the Niger Delta, none of the OPC youth or adolescents spoken to by researchers were carrying arms openly during this interview. As one of the interviewees told researchers, “We are only allowed to carry arms at night when we are on vigilante duty or when the leader is attending a meeting or an official function during the day.” When asked why it is necessary to use firearms, respondents said that they take up arms as a form of self-defence against criminals. One interviewee claimed, “guns are our only means for self-defence because this vigilante work is very dangerous and at times during a fight with other groups you need these guns to defend yourself against police or the group you are fighting.” 27

ECOMOG is the Monitoring Observer Group of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

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Future Perspectives When Bakassi Boy members were asked if they had any desire to stop being involved in activities that involved violence, interviewees said they were only ready to do so if the police acted more responsibly and the government was able to rid their communities of criminals. Bakassi Boys interviewed for this study expressed their belief that the primary objectives of the group are the protection of ethnic interests and the fighting of crime within their communities. Older members said that they would advise the younger ones to quit the group because of the dangers they often faced and did not wish for their current or future children to become involved: “I will never allow any of my children or little brothers to get involved.” When asked how he would stop others from joining, a 20 year-old member said that “I will advise them on the hazards. I know it’s difficult, but I will tell them to go to school or learn a trade or better still stay in the village where there is peace of mind.” Egbesu Boy members said that they are ready to leave the group only when the government stops ignoring them and withdraws armed troops from their communities: “To tell you the truth, we are not happy living violently...when those in power started playing divide and rule oil politics with us and they are using the oil companies against us and killing our people, destroying our environment and land, we have no other choice left.” Members regarded themselves as patriotic and older Egbesu Boys appeared uninterested in advising younger members to quit because they are seen as future activists and warriors. When asked if they had any desire to leave the OPC, members responded that they are ready to leave the group when they get good jobs or have access to school: “To tell you the truth, being part of OPC is a very dangerous thing but I think for now I have no choice because this is the only thing that fetches me my daily livelihood. I know one day I will return to school and live normally. This is not a normal life.” Like the Egbesu Boys, older OPC members said that they would defend their nationality for as long as they live. Significantly, they see themselves as protectors of their communities from criminals and other hostile groups. As one of the interviewees explained, “Quitting the OPC is like losing one’s identity and not knowing where one is coming from.” Another interviewee said that: “These youth and adolescents are...promoting peace and security. Also, there is a considerable contribution [in] promoting ethnic cohesion and in the provision of social support in the local communities.” Others felt that for future generations to not be involved in the group, the government would have to guarantee other alternatives such as education: “If they would provide job opportunities for the youth and make education easily accessible for the adolescents, many would be prevented from joining the OPC.” III. SOCIAL PROGRAMMES TARGETING COAV The following examples and evaluations of social programmes for the prevention and rehabilitation of adolescents and youth in organised armed violence is based on information gathered through interviews with local government officials, community residents including involved and non-involved youth and adolescents, community leaders, NGOs and CBOs in Lagos (Southwest Nigeria), Aba (Southeast Nigeria) and the Niger Delta. 260

Niger Delta Youth for Peace Governor James Ibori of the state of Delta in the Niger Delta initiated a programme to collect small arms in 2002. Cash, vocational training and job opportunities were offered to young people who surrendered their arms. However, interviewees claimed that the success of this initiative was limited due to implementation problems. As one interviewee confirmed to researchers, the government has failed to compensate some of those who surrendered their arms. Other interviewees also blamed the slow progress of the initiative on a lack of trust amongst youth that the government would be able to fulfil its promise when weapons were handed in. A government official confirmed to researchers during this study that about 40 young people joined the programme. Fifteen of them were given cash incentives of around US$300 each and 25 have been successfully included in job training programmes ranging from craftsmanship and welding to furniture making. The interviewee confirmed to researchers that of the 40 young people in the programme, 20 have been fully reintegrated into the community. Niger Delta Development Commission Established by the federal government, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has as one of its cross-cutting themes the rehabilitation and re-socialisation of young people involved and affected by armed violence through the provision of basic physical and social infrastructure within the region. This includes the provision of electricity and water, decent roads, housing, health care, education, vocational training and job opportunities within the region. However, the initiative has yet to produce significant results, which may be largely due to the rapid politicisation of the commission.28 Strategic Thinking Leadership Training for Youth in the Niger Delta An example of a civil society initiative to prevent youth violence through youth development is the Strategic Thinking Leadership Training for Youth in the Niger Delta project, organised by the Centre for Democracy and Development in the state of Edo. Two week training programmes are held in computer skills training, leadership skills development, community organisation, conflict management, peace building and negotiation, and resource mobilisation and management. Project activities include visits with key lawmakers and community leaders and elders to discuss those policies/issues that concern young people and the role of youth in the community. Over 100 young people have been trained as part of the project over a three year period. Many of the participants have renounced violence and returned to school, while some are setting up youth development programmes in their communities. Conclusion and Recommendations The range of prevention and rehabilitation strategies for children and youth in organised armed violence has been distinctly limited in Nigeria. With government primarily focused on military options and civil society on training and workshops for prevention and rehabilitation, there are major gaps in the following areas: 28

IPCR, ibid.

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• Security sector reform relating to a non-military civilian police force; • Re-integrating children and young people in organised armed violence into society; • Ensuring that new socio-economic policies and development initiatives are sensitive to the problem. Given the fact that most of the militias and vigilante groups recruit the majority of their members from the “urban underclass” of the unemployed and under-employed, the provision of gainful employment for the millions of presently idle hands and minds is likely to limit the number of desperate young men on the street who have nothing to lose by joining the militias and vigilantes, and consequently participating in violence. The effective management of the problem of children and youth in organised armed violence in different parts of the country depends on the reform of state institutions and policies. The first major step in that direction is for government to change its attitude in regard to the groups. Federal government recently banned militia groups, hoping that this would effectively stop organised armed violence within the country. Banning these groups is not a solution, as their manifestation is a result of the social and political exclusion of much of the Nigerian population. Furthermore, from a practical standpoint, up until now bans have met with little or no success. These groups continue to exist and violence continues to increase. Experience has shown that bans will at best drive the groups underground, therefore making it difficult, if not impossible, for them to be held responsible for their actions. In order to limit the armed vigilantism carried out by these groups, there is a need for government to embark on total security reform. State security forces including the police need to become an effective and valid presence within communities where armed groups currently dominate. This must include the training of the security agencies in human rights issues and the judiciary in juvenile rehabilitation. Some of the shortcomings of NGOs in preventing the participation of young people in organised armed violence can be overcome through increased capacity to effectively mediate in community conflict. Civil society organisations should also become more involved in the promotion and implementation of youth development programmes, with a focus on vocational training, as well as conflict resolution and peace education. It is also fundamental that NGOs design effective strategies for accessing and maintaining contact with the most vulnerable adolescents, including those that have already taken up arms and are members of the groups. Finally, since it appears that the phenomenon of ethnic-militias and vigilante will be with us for a long time, there is an urgent need for constant monitoring and informed public policy to minimise their negative impact on the country’s infant democracy. It is therefore urgent that the federal government pay attention to the phenomenon and put in place effective programmes aimed at undermining their support base.

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YOUNG PEOPLE AND ARMED VIOLENCE IN NORTHERN IRELAND Marie Smyth and Patricia Campbell, ICR (Institute for Conflict Research) and Breen Smyth Consultants This report focuses on the role of young people in the conflict in Northern Ireland, concentrating on the changing nature of their involvement in street violence before and during the ongoing peace process. A full-length version of the report summarised in this chapter can be found at www.coav.org.br. Introduction While young people have played a significant part in the violent conflict in Northern Ireland, there has been relatively little analysis of their role within it. This article attempts to address the differing roles of children and young people in the ‘Troubles’1 since the 1970s. Researchers carried out 15 individual interviews with adults who had been involved as children and young people in paramilitary groups on both sides of the conflict over the last thirty years. Further interviews were also held with young people aged between 15 and 24 years who were not members of paramilitary organisations, but lived in areas severely affected by the conflict and/or ‘interface’2 communities and were involved in ‘anti-social’ violence or ‘recreational rioting’. Most of the interviewees came from Belfast or Derry/ Londonderry, although some lived in large towns in County Antrim. The changing patterns of violence The first significant developments in the peace process in Northern Ireland were the ceasefires of 1994 since when there has been a steady reduction in violence. However, violence, albeit at a lower level, continues, particularly along interfaces in North Belfast and during Protestant Orange marches in the summer. A series of political crises led to the suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly in October 2002. Elections in November 2003 saw the middle ground parties on both sides losing ground to the more radical parties. The British and Irish governments have made intermittent attempts at reviving talks – all unsuccessful to date – to resurrect a government in Northern Ireland. In Belfast alone, there are twenty-seven interfaces where sporadic violence punctuates the lives of residents. The tensions along these interfaces separating communities are partly driven by contests about territory. Whilst some of this violence may be organised by paramilitary groups, at least some is perpetrated by groups of young people engaged, often casually, in what has come to be called ‘recreational rioting.’ This pursuit presents a thrilling pastime for bored, underemployed youths in the absence of effective policing of their communities, and the lack of more legitimate occupations. Examination of police statistics shows 1

The political conflict between Nationalists, mainly Catholic, who tend to see themselves as ‘Irish’, and Unionists or Loyalists, mainly Protestant, who tend to see themselves as ‘British’ and support union with Great Britain. 2 Catholic communities that border Protestant communities, or Protestant communities that border Catholic communities, which are usually separated by a wall.

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that violence emanates from both sides of the conflict. Since the ceasefires, and with the corresponding influx of foreign workers, there has been a rapid increase in racist and homophobic violence. While violence has decreased post-1994, the nature of violence amongst young people and the motivation for engagement in that violence has changed dramatically – a change that has also been visible in South Africa as it emerged from apartheid.3 There too, the transition to peace saw a marked increase in levels of criminal violence in the poorest areas that had been worst affected by the violence of apartheid. This same pattern is emerging in Northern Ireland, with an increase in drug availability and usage, drug-related crime, racketeering criminal activity and racist and homophobic attacks. Prior to the ceasefires and the peace process, the recruitment of young people into paramilitary groups was perceived as politically motivated and the violence they engaged in as motivated by Nationalist or Loyalist sentiment. Adults in the worst affected communities tended in the pre-ceasefire era to perceive street violence in the form of rioting as defence of the community in the face of outside threat, and therefore politically understandable, if not legitimate. With the advent of the ceasefires, opinion has shifted. On the republican side particularly, the political strategy of mainstream republicanism no longer includes armed struggle, and this de-legitimises rioting and other violent activity. On the loyalist side, a violent and bloody feud between the two main paramilitary groups4 has polarised some loyalist working class communities and created a rather different context for young people living in loyalist areas. However, the two main loyalist groups, although active militarily, are officially also on ceasefire, so the opportunities for participation in paramilitary violence there too are limited, although competitive recruitment of young people has been reported recently. Young people from both communities who currently participate in violence tend not to have access to guns, which are tightly controlled by the paramilitary groups. Currently, the violence is typically between rival groups of young people who are loosely organised groups from the same community, rather than formally organised gangs. Since the ceasefires of 1994 and 1996, confrontations along interfaces have continued, often involving the use of petrol bombs/Molotov cocktails, blast bombs, bolts and other heavy metal missiles fired from heavy-duty catapults, and occasionally firearms. Young people from both sides of the conflict participate in this rioting, although the majority have no direct links to paramilitary groups, but instead are acting under their own initiative. One group interviewed for this study described themselves as ‘wannabes’ rather than members of a paramilitary group. However, wannabes also know how to make blast bombs with readily available household and garden substances, carry knives and other weapons, and attack and defend their ‘territory’. Loyalist leaders have espoused the view that young people who are ‘beyond control’ are more easily controlled if recruited into a paramilitary group. 3

See for example Pierre du Toit ‘South Africa: In Search of Post-Settlement Peace’ in John Darby and Roger McGinty. The Management of Peace Processes. Macmillan (2000). 4 The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is in competition with the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and a subgroup within the UDA, the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF).

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It is commonly alleged that paramilitary groups – or Sinn Féin – can ‘turn on and off’ street violence as a way of manipulating the political situation. However, there are several examples of how this may not be entirely true. For example, Sinn Féin’s MP Gerry Kelly had his arm broken in North Belfast when remonstrating with young people engaged in street violence. Other examples, such as the relative peace on certain interfaces during certain key periods, however, would suggest that elsewhere in Belfast the UDA in particular, have a role in orchestrating interface violence. At the outset of the peace process, wider society and particularly communities badly affected by the Troubles began to report increased levels of disorder and lawlessness. Local residents in these communities complained of increasing levels of vandalism, joy riding, drug abuse, petty crime and other forms of anti-social behaviour; usually carried out by disaffected young people who were increasingly perceived as problems within their own communities. Prior to the ceasefires, paramilitary groups in both Loyalist and Republican areas in Northern Ireland had adopted a practice of punishing petty crime and anti-social behaviour, using a tariff system of threats, exclusions and physical punishment. In some cases these physical punishments involve firearms, in so-called ‘punishment shootings,’ and in the most extreme cases death or exile. Interviewed young people talked about their ‘anti-social’ behaviour. ‘Gerard’ said, “They [young people] steal cars. I’d say the good majority of West Belfast kids growing up are shoplifting and stuff from a young age. Nowadays they’re breaking into people’s sheds and stealing cars, probably even planning robberies and stuff.” ‘Seamus’, speaking about the IRA, said “They think we’re hoods. They’ll shoot us if we don’t stop. They pulled a gun on us. You’d be scared for ages but then you’d drink again and it would make you not care.” ‘Emer’, a 16 year old from Derry said, “I hate the Provos.5 They go round beating people up. I don’t think that’s right. See if the Provos ever came to us, to our wee boys [young men], I couldn’t stand it.” For one youth, his punishment for car crime was to be attacked and beaten by paramilitaries. He suffered severe injuries, including a broken jaw. Another said, “I was into cars, selling drugs, not giving a fuck…selling Es and that, making a few quid for buying a car. At the weekend you’ve got something to spend, you can buy yourself clothes, you’ve got a few quid.” This ‘entrepreneurial’ activity was to have extreme consequences. “I’ve actually been shot four times by the Provos. If I hadn’t been shot four times, I don’t think anything would have stopped me.” Young people interviewed spoke in detail of the types of violence in which they engage and the weapons used. Interviewees from Ballymena reported sectarian fighting between Catholics and Protestants using “Weapons, batons and that, knuckledusters, steel toecaps, baseball bats, machetes and hammers, golf clubs, bus hammers, hurley sticks,6 forks you eat your dinner with.” They also described making soda bombs. “Soda and vinegar, you get a bottle, yep and you throw it, it blows up. It explodes glass all over the place. It’s like a type of acid thing where it burns all of your skin.” Others in this group said that they had made petrol bombs,which they learned to do by observing others around them. 5 6

The Provisional IRA Stick used to play hurley, a traditional Irish sport.

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‘Francis’ commented: “If I was fighting someone my own age or younger, I’d use these [his fists], but if I’m fighting someone older or bigger, then I’m going to use something else…We use sticks and bats, we have knives.” ‘Danny’ said: “I wouldn’t use a knife. Loads of people have knives. Most of the people running around with knives, the Ra7 are looking for them, the cops are looking for them.” Young interviewees spoke of wide-scale drug and alcohol use. As ‘Francis’ from Derry/ Londonderry said: “There’s nothing to do in this place; nowhere to go… “Cannabis, Es, speed, you take anything you can get your hands on. It makes you relax.” ‘Eamon’ in Belfast stated, “I sniffed glue before I drunk, at 13. Everybody else was doing it. Why would I not do it like everybody?” ‘Seamus’, a 16 year-old from Derry told us that he had had his stomach pumped out twice as a result of alcohol poisoning. He expected to carry on drinking to excess. “Why not? Once you start you don’t stop. You can’t stop. Only if you’ve got no money.” Although there was some ambiguity as to whether they would use guns if they were available, young people said that access to firearms was very tightly controlled in their communities, and denied to them. One young Catholic said that, “It’s too hard to get guns. If someone did something on me and you had a few beers on you…. You could do anything with a gun, rob a bank, kill people, kill pensioners.” He pointed out that any young person who was known to have a gun would soon find themselves in trouble with the IRA. “If word got out, the Ra would take the gun. The Ra would come after you.” Recruitment of children by paramilitaries The IRA maintains its cease-fire and, to the best of current knowledge, is not currently recruiting under 18 year-olds. Although there have reportedly been some attempts at recruiting amongst dissident Republican groupings, these have been limited. The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the Ulster Defence Association/Ulster Freedom Fighters (UDA/ UFF) have recently entered into competition as a result of the feuding among them. Loyalist groupings believe that, unless they recruit, they become vulnerable to being overwhelmed by their rivals. Young people are seen in terms of their potential to augment the ranks of one side or the other. Young people themselves report feeling ‘safer’ if they belong to one group or another. One man described his entry into the UDA in the 1990s: “I joined the UDA when I was 16. I admired the UDA because they were hitting back and Sinn Fein/IRA were being killed. The other reason I joined was out of sheer boredom, there was nothing else to do.” A male who joined the Fianna (IRA youth wing) before the current ceasefire described the influence of his family as a key factor: “Two of my older brothers were members of the IRA but that obviously had a major influence on my line of thinking. Likes of the IRA were never out of the house. They were in the house for tea and stuff like that.” A Catholic man described recruitment into the Fianna during the Troubles in 1980s: “We would have been members of the Fianna when we were sort of thirteen and fourteen but that was just that was like a boy scouts thing. You weren’t allowed to use weapons or anything like that…There was older ones in the Fianna about fifteen or sixteen who were taking part in blast bomb and nail bombs attacks.” 7

Slang for the IRA.

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As to what age groups the various paramilitary groups recruited from, the Ulster Young Militants (UYM) produced a written statement in 2002 claiming that they did not recruit young people under the age of 16 years (recruitment into the UDA and the UFF has traditionally been based on recruiting from the UYM). The researchers were told by one informant that the age for recruitment into the IRA was 16, but one senior Republican stated that ‘recruitment was not an issue’ thus implying that recruitment was not currently taking place. Therefore this point is academic. It is not clear whether there is an age limit for recruitment into the UVF. It is notable that none of the youths interviewed had any comments to make about their own politicisation either within the home or their wider community. These young people appear to have a very different relationship to politics than those who were previously involved in the political conflict. Whilst some of them called their loose grouping X Republican Youth, or Y Loyalist Youth, they did not appear to have formal links with mainstream political groupings. Rather, these informal groups tend to focus on self-defence and defence of their territory in the highly segregated environment they live in. While politics was not an issue for those youths interviewed, many young Catholics interviewed felt that the police discriminated against them and in favour of young Protestants. Police violence was referred to by ‘Danny’ who told researchers: “Cops have beat us up a few times as well. We were being cheeky to them. Cops are worse. I hate the cops more that the Ra. ….I think they’re bitter. They hate me because I’m Catholic.” Future perspectives When asked what they expected of the future, the answers were almost uniformly bleak. Seventeen year-old ‘Francis’ replied with one word: “Parties.” Asked to elaborate, he expanded, “I like being young just. It’s better than being old. I don’t want to be old and wrinkled. I don’t want a wife. I’ve not got the patience for a wife. I don’t want kids. They’ll only end up like me and I wouldn’t be able to keep them under control.” The only ambition that ‘Seamus’ expressed for the future was the hope that he would be able to carry on drinking. Like the other young people to whom he spoke, he was unemployed and had been so since he left school. When pressed, the only positive comment he could find to offer about the future was, “I’m getting really good at snooker.” ‘Gerard’ had thought about the future he wanted for his own children. “Move away from this place, that’s what it needs. I don’t want my kid getting involved in this place. Down South’s great. Everyone’s friendly and all. It’s quiet and all. How good would your kid be and all. It would grow up properly. Instead of like me. I don’t want those problems with my kid. No chance.” Good Practice Case Studies The case studies presented here are drawn from the NGO sector; it is in this sector that up until now innovative work has taken place. These case studies are of projects that offer diversionary activities to young people, in order to take them away from involvement in violence. The following presentations are based on external evaluation reports.8 8

See Harry Mika’s Evaluation of Greater Shankill Alternatives. September 2002. Belfast: Greater Shankill Alternatives and Marie Smyth, Kirsten Thomson & Jennifer Hamilton (2002) Creggan Community Restorative Justice: An Evaluation and Suggested Way Forward. Belfast, ICR. (108pp) ISBN 0-9541898-1-7

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Case study 1: Community Restorative Justice Ireland9 and Northern Ireland Alternatives As noted above, since the peace process began both Loyalist and Republican working class areas have been troubled with problems of petty crime, vandalism and anti-social behaviour by youth. Due to gaps in policing, local people turned to paramilitary groups to ‘police’ the community. As noted earlier, this often took a violent and brutal form: punishment beatings, kneecappings, exclusion from the community or the country and on occasion, death. Two community restorative justice schemes, one in Catholic areas, Community Restorative Justice Ireland (CRJI), and one in Loyalist areas, Northern Ireland Alternatives, were formed in order to provide an alternative method of approaching breakdowns in relationships in the community as a result of crime and anti-social behaviour. These two schemes operate separately, and have taken different approaches. The Alternatives Scheme offers a pre-designed programme to young people who are referred by a wide range of agencies in the community. Alternatives work closely with the existing criminal justice agencies, including the police. The CRJI have 15 local projects throughout Northern Ireland with further groups developing. They have trained over 1000 people in methods of restorative justice, and have dealt with 1700 cases involving 6000 individuals in the last four years. Independent evaluation recorded a satisfactory outcome in 92% of these cases. CRJI schemes respond to complaints from members of the community, and mediate a local resolution with the consent of the victim. An agreement is reached between the parties, part of which is a restorative requirement and the perpetrator is supervised in carrying out the terms of the agreement. The CRJI schemes, since they operate in Catholic/Republican areas where the police have not been acceptable in the past, do not work openly with the police. They consider to do so would bring severe criticism from many in the community who are not satisfied with the extent of police reform, and who will not, therefore, participate in the structures of the criminal justice system, or work with the police. CRJI scheme members have also been involved in mediating city centre violence, which is particularly prevalent in Derry/Londonderry. There, volunteers walk the streets at highrisk times, and attempt to de-escalate confrontations. Both CRJI and Alternatives schemes see themselves as involved in preventative work as well as responding to referrals. Both would take a non-punitive line, and would argue that an education and awareness training alongside diversionary schemes is the most effective method. Both schemes report impressive success rates, and relatively low rates of re-offending for most offenders. However, a cohort of persistent ‘deep end’ offenders present them with substantial challenges and such schemes cannot deal with a range of issues such as domestic violence or sexual abuse. Northern Ireland Alternatives has four programmes and has operated since 1998 in Shankill, handling 129 referrals related to punishment threats; 62 young people became involved in the intensive programme as a result. 42% of referrals came from paramilitary organisations, 27% came from the community, 18% from social services and 13% from 9

http://www.restorativejusticeireland.org/

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either BASE2 or self-referral. Most of those they work with are males and between the ages of 10-22. As a result of their work, punishment beatings in Shankill have been reduced. 86% of young people, once referred, formulated a contract in one month or less. 64% of cases were on the Programme for a maximum of 7 months, and the range of length of participation was from one month to 17 months. 76% of cases involved meetings with victims and over 58% of cases had previous or current involvement of one of the statutory agencies. 87% of closed cases were successfully completed. The most frequent activities in the contracts drawn up were volunteer work, victim restitution, alternative schooling, prevention programmes, individual and group counselling, drug and alcohol awareness programmes and family support. Case Study 2: Ógra Shinn Féin10 Ógra Shinn Féin is the youth section of Sinn Féin, now the largest party representing the Northern Ireland Catholic community. It is also the party with close associations to the IRA, the largest and most effective of the paramilitary groupings in Northern Ireland. Ógra Shinn Féin provides an effective alternative for young people to membership of the IRA and direct involvement in armed conflict and violence by providing young people with a channel for political expression and participation. In recent years Sinn Féin has invested time and energy in developing their youth wing, which has been active within the party, and in coalition with other political groupings, for example, campaigning against the war in Iraq. Their manifesto states: ‘Young people are interested in political issues, but many feel that politicians don’t represent their interests. This does not mean that our young people are apolitical. The willingness of so many young people to participate in political action was illustrated by the huge numbers who protested against the war in Iraq.’ (Ógra Shinn Féin Election Manifesto, 2004) The manifesto goes on to discuss educational access for young people, children’s rights, corporal punishment, immigration, homelessness, employment rights, human rights, crossborder voting on the island of Ireland, the arms trade and nuclear disarmament amongst others. Ógra Shinn Féin has appointed youth liaison officers in both Northern Ireland and in the Irish Republic, together with five regional youth officers and a national executive. They raise issues about the lack of participation of, or consultation with, young people in decisions taken by government that affect young people. The manifesto also addresses the issue of justice for young people: At a time when other political parties struggle to maintain their membership, Ógra Shinn Féin is flourishing and vibrant. Their members stand in elections for Sinn Féin, and are amongst the youngest candidates in recent electoral contests. For those young people who were drawn into armed violence and paramilitary membership in the past for reasons of political motivation, there now exists on the Republican side a vehicle for political expression and activity On the other hand, Sinn Féin is now suffering the consequences of success in its own constituency. Whereas previously, joining Sinn Féin was seen as an act of a rebel, nowadays, 10

http://ograsf.freespaces.com/english/

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the party is seen as the mainstream, the authority. Its ability to attract the more marginalised young people is limited because of this, in spite of its other successes. Ógra Shinn Féin members nowadays tend to be smart, focused, articulate, accomplished, rather than angry, disaffected and marginalised. A second concern is related to suspicions about the robustness of the IRA ceasefire, and the role of Ógra Shinn Féin should the IRA return to war. However, a separate military youth wing of the IRA, (Na Fianna Éireann) means that Ógra Shinn Féin will remain in the same role as that of Sinn Féin to the IRA, namely as a political wing, with an armed associate organisation. In spite of the suspicion about these links, it is incontestable that OSF provides the most effective political opportunity for young people of any of the range of political parties operating in Northern Ireland. Recommendations for Possible State Interventions These recommendations address the situation of both the young people involved in politically-motivated armed violence and those involved more recently in ‘anti-social’ violence. 1. Establishment of a justice system that has the confidence of all. The lack of consensus on policing, and the resultant gap in policing has meant that paramilitary groups have operated a rough justice system, largely targeted at younger people in those communities. The building of trust in the formal justice system and in the police is an issue raised in the Good Friday Agreement, and various agencies are charged with responsibility for advancing this. The establishment of a justice and policing system that has the support of the entire population is essential if young people’s involvement in armed violence is to be addressed comprehensively and justice for young people is to be achieved. The ending of paramilitary policing is in everyone’s interest, and the paramilitaries themselves claim that they have no appetite for such a role. 2. Change the balance in existing interventions. Young people who have been through the criminal justice system multiple times appear to have the best developed intervention and support services available to them. Other young people that are at an earlier stage on the same trajectory have less access to such services. Priority should be given to preventative work with young people at risk of perpetrating acts of armed violence, rather than focussing so heavily on those already apprehended and convicted. 3. Address alcohol abuse. An urgent, comprehensive and hard-hitting initiative on alcohol abuse aimed at young people from the age of 10 upwards must be devised involving both a preventative and a remedial strategy. Since almost all of the anti-social violence encountered during this study was fuelled by alcohol, achieving a drastic reduction in alcohol consumption amongst young people can effectively reduce levels of violence. Penalties for providing alcohol to young people should also be enforced. 4. Prevent educational exclusion. Almost all the anti-social violence committed by young people encountered during this study followed on from early educational failure. In some cases these failures were clearly due to undiagnosed psychological or learning difficulties, often dismissed by schools as bad behaviour. The proper assessment of disruptive and under-performing pupils by educational psychologists and early intervention, as well as improving the availability of schools psychological services particularly to schools in deprived 270

and militarised communities, will go a long way towards addressing these problems. Where possible children should be kept at school, and school exclusions should not be used, as these merely compound the problems for the young person concerned. Provision of remedial education by appropriate educators for those that are too old to return to the public school system is also an important step towards addressing the marginalisation of those involved in anti-social armed violence. 5. Provide a nutrition and diet service for deprived communities. Research has shown that nutritional deficiency and insufficient vitamin intake in school age children has severe adverse effects on their levels of concentration and educational performance. This, coupled with the increase in obesity and the high levels of consumption of fast food has compounded the marginalisation of young people in deprived areas. A state-sponsored nutrition and vitamin programme, together with a healthy eating programme for schools and for marginalised communities should be established to address this. 6. Provide violence education in schools. South Africa has instituted excellent multimedia violence education in schools. Such a programme in the mainstream curriculum should be devised for, and provided in, Northern Ireland, so that children can learn from an early age to understand the causes and effects of violence, alternatives to it and how to stay safe. 7. Resist punitive policies. The evidence is clear that punitive policies, whilst being politically popular and appealing to the desire for revenge on the part of some in the community, do not reduce the levels of violence. Government should therefore resist implementing such policies, including the soon-to-be-introduced Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, which merely replicate in the mainstream the kind of physical exclusion enforced in the past by paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland. 8. Involvement of the Children’s Commissioner. The Northern Ireland Children’s Commissioner should take up the range of issues relating to the involvement of children and young people in armed violence, and advocate on behalf of those young people. 9. Implement the Good Friday Agreement. The Northern Ireland Assembly was congratulated by the UN Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict for having included young people in the text and provisions of the Agreement. However, this inclusion has yet to lead to concrete action. Community-based schemes to support young people referred to in the document have not been implemented, and provisions that have been made have been inadequate. Provision for young people who have an involvement in armed violence, either as part of an armed group or as a consequence of the continuing social problems in militarised communities, must be established and mainstreamed. Such provision must be long term and located in both the NGO and statutory sector. This work cannot be done in a piecemeal fashion with short-term funding commitments. 10. Acts of completion by armed groups. Whilst the Agreement calls on the armed groups to end violence and to put their weapons verifiably beyond use, this process has not been brought to completion by any of the armed groups, and indeed some have not even begun. A comprehensive commitment to ending violence and the destruction of weapons and dumps would create a more secure future for young people, and would effectively demobilise those already recruited into the armed groups concerned. 271

11. A DDR strategy for Northern Ireland. Simple decommissioning in itself is not sufficient. In other conflict zones, a Demobilisation, Demilitarisation and Reintegration (DDR) approach has been adopted, and specific measures put in place to ensure that those, including young people, involved in armed groupings do not continue to pose a threat to peace and stability, and are enabled to make the transition back into civilian life and useful citizenship. • As part of the DDR strategy, a criminal records review process should be established in order to facilitate the integration of former politically-motivated prisoners with criminal convictions acquired during the conflict. Such records debar people from certain occupations and professions and thus compromise their employability and reintegration. • Similarly, as part of the DDR process, screening of former combatants for psychological problems and the treatment of PTSD and other disorders found is important, not only for the individuals suffering these disorders, but also for the safety and quality of life of those encountering them. • Finally, DDR should include educational assessment of former combatants, and the provision of education to make good any deficits in their education will increase their ability to reintegrate.

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CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN ORGANISED ARMED VIOLENCE IN THE PHILIPPINES: CONTEXTUALISATION, PERSONAL HISTORIES AND POLICY OPTIONS Agnes Zenaida V. Camacho, Marco P. Puzon and Yasmin Patrice Ortiga: University of the Philippines, Center for Integrative and Development Studies, Psychosocial Trauma and Human Rights Program This chapter focuses on civilian vigilante groups, known as Civilian Volunteer Organisations (CVOs), that are being used as private armies by local politicians and powerful traditional leaders in Maguindanao province, Philippines. The report is divided into three parts. Part One gives a contextualised summary of these groups. Part Two takes a closer look at the human face of this phenomenon, with profiles of individuals involved. Part Three examines possible solutions to the problem, with an evaluation of relevant social programmes and policies. A full-length version of the report summarised in this chapter can be found at www.coav.org.br. Introduction Civilian Volunteer Organisations (CVOs) were originally set up as unarmed civilian self-help groups, established primarily for self-defence and protection. However, in certain parts of the Philippines, local politicians are reportedly heavily arming and using the members of CVOs in their respective localities as ‘private armies,’ the existence of which is explicitly forbidden under the 1987 Constitution. The situation presents a serious paradox: while the CVOs are legal, field reports indicate various irregularities and violations of existing laws including those on the protection of children against violence and abuse. Methodology The study focuses on three Muslim municipalities in the province of Maguindanao, Midpandacan, Matengen, and Marang.1 There are reported cases of children joining the CVOs used as private armies in these areas; in addition, they were selected because researchers had good access to adult key informants, and to children and youth in CVOs. Researchers used the multi-method approach for this study, with emphasis on qualitative rather than quantitative analysis. Two field visits to Maguindanao, from August to November 2003, lasted for a total of two to three weeks. Researchers collected and analysed secondary background information including government and NGO documents on children and armed violence and CVOs, as well as on social and economic conditions affecting children in Maguindanao. In addition, face-to-face interviews were conducted with children and youth involved in CVOs used as private armies, with adults in the community, and with key people from relevant government and non-governmental organisation agencies. Researchers used the indigenous method of interviewing: pagtatanong-tanong (asking questions) and pakikipagkwentuhan (exchanging stories). Networking helped researchers gain access to the area and arrange interviews, which involved getting the consent of the child as well as the child’s handler.2 Because of the utmost sensitivity of the research topic, efforts were made 1 2

The names of these municipalities have been changed for security reasons. “Handler” is the term used by children and youth CVOs interviewed for this study to refer to their leaders.

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to ensure the safety of the respondents and the research team members. Information provided by child and adult participants is confidential. The names of the CVO respondents were coded and critical personal information was altered to avoid risks. The respondents had the option to ask that their interview not be audio-recorded. I. CONTEXTUALISED SUMMARY OF COAV Area of Study Profile Maguindanao is a primarily agricultural province located in the Central Region of Mindanao. Just under one-third of the population is under 19 years old, according to official statistics.3 Maguindanao is one of the ten poorest provinces of the Philippines; in 2000, most families in Maguindanao were nearly 10% below the poverty line.4 Although about 42% of the total population had attended or completed elementary education in the same year, just 18% had attended or completed secondary level.5 The region has a predominantly Muslim population, though the surrounding areas are mainly Christian, which has led to some strife. In 1991 Maguindanao opted to join the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which holds office in Cotabato City – a city that overwhelmingly voted against inclusion into the region. From the 1970s on, the province has seen periods of intense fighting between the Philippines government and the largely secessionist group Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), and later a more conservative break-off group called the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The history of armed conflict has meant that there are high numbers of firearms in circulation and this has continued to hamper development. Brief Historical Analysis: Conditions for the Existence of COAV in Maguindanao The roots of today’s problems with COAV can be traced to the excesses of the datu system and politics. The datu is a traditional leader under Islam who exercises virtually autonomous control of his territory, using wealth as the basis of his hereditary power, and increasing power and prestige through warfare or intermarriages. While the institutionalisation of elected political office after Philippine independence in 1946 brought some declines to the datu’s power, the office remains influential in the province. The datu continues to count on kinsmen and followers, who generally form a strong block of voters. Like datus of old, the new political leadership still “command their respective followings and control territories unmarked on any map or government document.”6 They also command fear and respect through violence. Datu head a pagali, or family, sub-clan or clan: these have a pivotal role in the existence and maintenance of private armies (or in recent years, their CVO counterparts). The 3

Maguindanao Most Requested Statistics, As of September 2002, Compiled by the Maguindanao Provincial Office, Cotabato City. 4 Statistics and data taken from p. 9, Social Assessment of Conflict-Affected Areas in Mindanao, Environment and Social Development Unit, World Bank East Asia and Pacific Region. 5 Statistics taken from the 2002 Press Release, National Statistics Office, Results of the 2000 Census of Population and Housing, released October 1, 2002. 6 Gutierrez, Eric, 2000: “In the Battlefields of the Warlord,” in Rebels, Warlords and Ulama, A Reader on Muslim Separatism and War in the Southern Philippines, Institute for Popular Democracy, p. 81.

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pagali exercises control over a given territory, its population and local resources in the three areas examined in this study. For example, the pagali may have complete control of the town’s development, particularly over disbursements of funds. Clans are divided into sub-clans and into families, which may form alliances or engage in long-term blood feuds against one another. Called rido, these feuds may be caused by a host of factors, ranging from a land dispute or a crime committed against a member of another pagali. Since courts are either absent or barely functioning in many places in Muslim Mindanao, including Maguindanao, revenge (often in the form of ridos) is the main form of justice.7 During a rido, those who have practically nothing to do with the dispute – including children and teenagers – are put at serious risk because of their relationship (by blood or by marriage) to the pagali directly involved. In fact, many believe that killing an ‘enemy’ while he is young and defenceless will prevent him from growing up and striking back unexpectedly. As a result of these perceived and actual dangers, many clans and special interest groups, particularly those involved in politics or big businesses, maintain so-called ‘private armies.’ The prevalence of firearms in many areas in Mindanao also exacerbates problems with children and youth in organised armed violence. According to an official of the ARMM Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), it is common for families to own short firearms with calibres ranging from 0.22 to 0.45, and many of these short firearms are unlicensed.8 The main sources of these weapons, known as paltik, are unregistered local gun manufacturers or “clandestine backyard or cottage industries manned by family members”.9 World War II, the separatist war of the 1970s, protracted fighting between the Philippine government and non-state actors like the MILF in following decades, and on-going ridos or clan wars have also brought a steady influx of firearms into the region. In keeping with the Maguindanao cultural tradition, boys begin carrying and using guns from about 14 or 15 years of age in order to defend their families and their property. Actors Involved: a Labyrinth of Conflict Civilian Volunteers Organisations (CVOs) were originally legitimate non-military bodies, created under local government law to aid in defence and protection of territories under siege by rebels in the 1980s, the final decade of the Marcos dictatorship.10 The law stipulates that members must be at least 18 years of age, of sound mental and physical health, and have no criminal record, among other criteria. Members are allowed to engage primarily in unarmed civilian assistance including: (a) intelligence or information gathering; (b) neighbourhood watch or rondas; (c) medical, traffic or emergency assistance; (d) assistance 7

“The Other Mindanao,” p.1. Available on: http:www.pcij.org/imag/latest/mindanao2.html Interview conducted by Marco Puzon with Fredelino Gorospe, Local Government Operations Officer of the ARMM DILG on November 20, 2003 in Cotabato City. 9 Philippine Center on Transnational Crime (PCTC), Paper on Illicit Trafficking and Manufacturing of Firearms: Philippine Context, www.pctc.gov.ph/edocs/papers. The PCTC reports that the bulk of paltik manufacturers are concentrated in the island of Cebu in the Visayas, particularly in the cities of Danao and Mandaue and neighbouring towns. Many of these Danao weapons end up in Mindanao. See also “Danao gun makers busy as polls near,” Philippine Daily Inquirer, 8 December, 2003. 10 Combined Second and Third Report of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), p. 557. 8

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in the identification and implementation of community development projects; and (e) gathering relevant information and data as inputs to peace and order planning and research activities. According to the law CVO members can be removed from their post for committing illegal activities. The exact number of CVO members in Maguindanao province is difficult to ascertain and different sources give conflicting estimates. An ARMM Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) official said that a barangay, or village,11 has about 2040 CVO members.12 Assuming that each barangay has CVOs,13 it can be estimated that anywhere between 8,020 and 16,040 CVO members exist in Maguindanao. Reality: the CVO as ‘private army’ Although CVOs are part of the state machinery, legally created to help the city or municipal police and military forces to provide security and protection against criminals, in practice they violate many laws and have become instruments of political control and intimidation, especially during elections. Under the law, the municipal and city governments are supposed to submit a monthly report to the ARMM Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on the location, leaders and members of the CVOs in their respective areas. But according to a DILG official, only one out of the 24 municipalities of Maguindanao is complying with this requirement.14 Key informants said that CVOs received training on the use of firearms from the military (this is explained in more detail later, in the section “Armed Confrontations”), particularly from some soldiers belonging to the 6th ID and, in the case of one of the study areas, from the mayor and his brother. Training in the use of firearms appears incongruent with the government’s initial policy of not arming the CVOs. Further, if the pagali knows a person or their family, they may automatically be allowed (or in some cases expected) to join, without undergoing the proper background checks. Rather than aid in general security, the primary duty of the CVOs used as private armies is to secure and guarantee the safety of the head of the pagali and his family. Section 24, Article 18 of the 1987 Constitution mandated the dismantling of “private armies and other groups not duly recognised by the authorities,” so the datu, sub-chiefs and influential members of the pagali simply made their private armies, armed retainers and bodyguards into members of the CVOs in their respective localities. According to one CVO member interviewed, “the mayor told us that bodyguards or security guards are illegal, […] so we are now called CVOs.”15 As clearly stated by a senior municipal councillor and close relative of the incumbent mayor from Midpandacan: Those [private armies] no longer exist. As a matter of fact, my 20 CVOs were previously [members of ] our private army, security guards of my family. But because I am a public servant now… my CVOs were not for myself… for my family… for my clan… but for the people of Midpandacan. 11

The barangay is the basic political unit in the Philippines. It is usually composed of around 1,000 inhabitants living in a single contiguous area within a city or a municipality. 12 Interview conducted by Marco Puzon with Fredelino Gorospe, Local Government Operations Officer of the ARMM DILG on 20 November, 2003 in Cotabato City. 13 The 2001 Census placed the number of Maguindanao barangays at 401. 14 Interview conducted by Marco Puzon with Fredelino Gorospe, Local Government Operations Officer of the ARMM DILG on 20 November, 2003 in Cotabato City. 15 Interview with Saharia (not her real name), a 24 year-old female CVO member from Matengen.

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The Midpandacan municipal councillor also admitted that some of the members of his CVOs were the sons of the members of his old private army. In the three study areas, the difference between CVOs and private armies appears to be only in name and not in composition. Collaboration of other groups The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has maintained a strong presence in Mindanao since the increased militarisation of the 1970s. As of May 2003, there are a total of eight brigades under the operational control of the 6th Infantry Division based in Awang, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao. According to informants, CVOs receive training and even firearms from the military. Furthermore, CVOs accompany army regulars during operations against rebels and other armed groups. The AFP is also comprised of civilian units, called Citizen Armed Force Geographical Units (CAFGU), which undergo military training and service. In the 1990s the CAFGU was to be dismantled due to accusations of serious human rights violations including extrajudicial killings, but later returned to action as a result of rising incidences of insurgency and criminality in the region. CVOs conduct neighbourhood watches along with CAFGUs and other paramilitary groups.16 The inability and insufficient number of the local Philippine National Police (PNP) officers to provide security to the town’s residents were used as reasons to justify the existence of CVOs in the area. According to a kagawad, or municipal councillor, from Midpandacan, “They augment our local PNP. There are so many people here in Midpandacan that the very few PNP [officers] we have cannot protect them all.”17 CVOs receive training from local Philippines National Police (PNP) units and provide support services to the understaffed and ineffective PNP personnel. There are also links between some CVOs and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the latter of which maintains a formidable presence in Maguindanao. Some CVO members were formally members of the MNLF and officials from the area have noted that other CVOs in the rebel-infested areas are composed of active MILF members.18 Some CVOs have been known to accompany regular army troops in operations against the MILF, while others have received training from the MILF. The MNLF has further splintered into many so-called ‘Lost Command’ groups in the past few years, some of which have resorted to kidnap-for-ransom activities and hijacking. CVOs accompany police and military regulars in operations against kidnap for ransom groups. In one of the study areas, however, the CVOs form part of the kidnap-forransom group allegedly headed by the senior member of the pagali in power. Command Structure A former senior head of a private army active in Maguindanao during the 1950s and 1960s said that the datu or head of a pagali normally exercised complete control over the armed 16

Interview conducted by local researcher with key informants and child members of the CVO during the period from September to October 2003. 17 Interview conducted by local researcher with key informant, a municipal councillor from Midpandacan in mid-September 2003. 18 Interview conducted by Marco Puzon with Eduardo Juance, BBFI Maguindanao Provincial Head on 19 November, 2003 in Parang, Maguindanao.

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group. However, the structure is not rigid. Some members who enjoy the total confidence and trust of the datu or clan leader may assume control of the ‘private army’ in the absence of the latter. The pagali exercises absolute control over the selection of members for the CVO, putting great emphasis on “trustworthiness.” This key informant said that most of the top leaders were members of the pagali and those who were not related to them formed the lower ranks and were the ones who carried out the orders. The barangay captain, or mayor, supervises the CVOs and designates an Executive Officer to head the group. The tanod, or the CVO, is organised into teams composed of a Team Leader and two to four members.19 One child interviewee said that in his area there were two kinds of CVO members, the regulars and those who were deployed only in times of serious conflict. The regulars, who numbered between 40 and 50, received a monthly allowance while those who were deployed during wars or armed conflict with another pagali were also compensated monetarily for their services. Relations with the Community The pagali dictatorship enforces its power in the community through entrapment and through the elimination of rivals. By giving members of the CVOs land, money, guns, and promises of protection, the pagali can demand anything it requires, including the elimination of perceived or actual enemies or threats. The CVOs also serve as a protection unit for their legal or illegal business ventures, strictly enforcing a code of silence with the threat of elimination facing those who dare run against the commands of the pagali dictatorship. One man related how he was trapped by the pagali into murdering an enemy after accepting a ‘loan’ to pay for an operation for his wife. This event eventually led to his membership into a CVO. To pay off the mayor soon, I sold our carabao.20 When I went to his place to pay up, the mayor said that he was not requiring me to pay anymore. Instead, he placed money, a photograph and a gun on a table in front of me. He probably saw my face turn white… He said, ‘When you get to finish this person off, then you can pay me.’ This was the kind of payment that he wanted.

Role of the State: the pagali dictatorship Often either in close cooperation or bitter competition with another clan, the pagali exercises control over a given territory, its population and local resources in the three study areas. A very prominent member of the clan may occupy the office of the mayor for the maximum number of three consecutive three-year terms. If this person dies another member of the clan, usually a very close relative, fills the power vacuum. The pagali dictatorship becomes part of the state machinery through its members elected to posts in local government. A clan member holding a political office can open up avenues for the pagali and its allies to dominate socio-political conditions in their respective territories. Illegal and Legal Activities The pagali dictatorship often owns large businesses in the area, and vast tracts of farmland. But aside from legal businesses, the pagali may also be involved in illegal activities, 19 20

Ibid The carabao or water buffalo is an indispensable work animal among farming communities in the Philippines.

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including sale of drugs (like marijuana or shabu – amphetamines), kidnap-for-ransom activities, extortion, or illegal raids. CVOs provide protection for these activities and may also be involved in tampering with election results or intimidating voters. A ranking police official in Cotabato City said that the bulk of amphetamines come from the towns of Datu Odin Sinsuat, Sultan Kudarat, and Kabuntalan in Maguindanao province.21 A child interviewee from Marang said that many of CVO members doubled as dealers, with contacts in Cotabato, General Santos, Davao and even Manila. Another child interviewee said that his pagali maintained a marijuana plantation in the marshy interior of Maguindanao and that he had been involved in drug dealing on behalf of his pagali. Another key informant said that child CVO members manned checkpoints in Marang and collected fees from every passing vehicle. Armed Confrontations Following its mandate for self-defence, the CVO may confront supporters of the rival pagali, lawless elements, and rebel troops as well as members of the military. For example, on 31 May 2003, the military reported that three CVO members and one CAFGU Active Auxiliary (CAA) member were killed, while another two CAA members were wounded in an ambush staged by the MILF guerrillas in South Upi, Maguindanao. One civilian was also killed and another was wounded during the incident.22 Initially, community watch groups were not allowed to bear arms. The Combined Second and Third Report of the Philippines government to the United Nations Human Rights Council clearly stated that: CVOs are not allowed to carry firearms. Only those licensed to possess firearms, veterans, retired members of the AFP, PNP and private security guards who have a permit to carry firearms outside their residence may be allowed to bear arms.23

However, in October 2001, the Macapagal-Arroyo government authorised arming CVOs, or barangay tanods, in “high-security risk” areas. The government stated that only qualified CVO members would be allowed to carry firearms and must undergo training by the police and the military. The local governments would have to provide the firearms since, according to the press, “they have the resources and the manpower.”24 The CVOs in all of the study areas used firearms, which were either supplied by the military or by the pagali. One child interviewee said his pistol was a gift from the mayor. Weapons ranged from pistols of various calibres (0.38 to 0.45) to military-type assault rifles, (M-79s, M-14s, and RPGs), M-1 Garrand rifles, and even grenades. One of the key infor21

“Maguindanao province biggest source of shabu in Cotabato City – PNP,” Minda News, 8 September, 2002. Available on: www.mindanews.com/2002/09/3rd/arn08shabu.html 22 “1 CAA, 3 CVOs killed in MILF ambush in Maguindanao” Philippine Army Press Release, 2 June, 2003. Available on: www.army.mil.ph/Press_Release/2003/June03/PressRelease191.htm 23 Combined Second and Third Report of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), p. 556. 24 Manila Times (20 October, 2002). Available on: www.manilatimes.net/national/2002/oct/20/top_stories/ 20021020.top1.html

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mants explained that the CVO members often own the guns they use, sometimes sacrificing their children’s education to buy rifles at 20,000 pesos (about US$360) each. While he insisted that all the guns in his possession were properly registered, he could not vouch for those owned by other CVO members. He added that firearms have always been visible in his area, especially at night, but that they were only for self-defence. Child and Youth Involvement A former head of a private army just after World War II said that most of the members of the private army during his time were more than 20 years old, and that young people only started joining the private armies in the 1980s. By law, the minimum age for membership in a CVO is 18, but one key informant said that most of the current members of the CVO are teenagers. He also observed that members are getting younger. A: Almost all of my comrades are young, around 15, 16, or 17. Like that. Q: Why are there so many young ones? Was it always like that? Or is this [something] new? A: When I joined in 1995, there were just a few of them.

II. COAV PROFILES Interviews with ten children involved in organised armed violence were held from October to December 2003 in Midpandacan, Matengen, and Marang. Some children requested that interviews be held outside their areas while most did not want their bosses to know they had conducted them. The following table summarises information about each respondent: Name Habib Danny Madz Nasir Rudy Amir Ahmad Donald Mar Jonathan

Present Age Educational Attainment Age at Entry 21 19 20 23 25 21 17 16 22 12

nd

2 year high school Elementary graduate 2nd year college High school graduate Grade 5 High school graduate Grade 5 Grade 3 Grade 2 Grade 2

18 17 15 15 17 14 14 13 18 10

Area Midpandacan Midpandacan Marang Marang Marang Marang Matengen Matengen Matengen Matengen

Personal Histories Although personal histories are unique to each child, the socioeconomic, cultural, and historical context of Maguindanao has played a defining role in the lives of the respondents. As explained in Part I, the armed conflict in the region, as well as other factors, have prevented economic growth and ruined business and career opportunities for many of 280

Maguindanao’s inhabitants. In spite of available forms of livelihood such as fishing and farming, the children’s families continue to struggle with everyday basic needs, especially as the average household size is approximately six members.25 Ahmad, who joined the CVO in Matengen at age 15, describes the state of most families in Maguindanao: “With the cost of food alone, you will not earn enough from fishing. Even more with the need for clothes, education, and health […] in cases when you get sick.” Most of the respondent’s parents work as either subsistence farmers or fishermen in the mainly agriculture-based economy of Maguindanao. However, for some, such as Ahmad, their fathers were already part of a CVO. Poverty in the three study areas has also affected the children’s access to education. Out of the ten respondents, nine stated that they had stopped studying either to help their parents with the family’s farm or simply because they could no longer afford to pay their tuition fees. Parental loss is also common, which puts enormous responsibilities on the children’s shoulders. The deaths of Ahmad and Nasir’s fathers meant that both had to assume economic responsibility for their families; Nasir quit school to work as a CVO member for economic reasons while Ahmad felt that by joining a CVO he could avenge his father’s death. Among all the respondents, the case of Madz is unique. Unlike the other children, who are simply employed by the CVO members of the pagali, Madz himself is a close blood relative (nephew) of the pagali head in Marang. Therefore, he enjoys more benefits and a higher status compared to the others. For example, Madz was the only interviewee who did not mention coming from an impoverished family. He was also the only one to have completed a high school education, and was finishing a college degree in Davao City at the time of the interview. Matz’s uncle paid for his education, but could also require him to interrupt his studies and return to the CVO if his pagali needed increased protection. Process of Involvement The diagram beside shows how there are various paths for a child to enter into the pagali. The diagram also illustrates the different levels of a child’s participation in the pagali in the progression towards organised armed violence, discussed in the following section, “Current Involvement”.

GRADUAL INVOLVEMENT

ACQUISITION OF MEMBERSHIP

( FAMILY/KINSHIP TIES)

Pagsama-sama

Small jobs

Duties

Malalaking Lakad

DEBT Voluntary participation: why ENTRAPMENT children and youth get involved The children of Midpandacan, Matengen, and Marang voluntarily join CVOs for similar reasons and due to similar circumstances, to other children from the Philippines that join armed groups participating in the country’s declared armed conflict. These include:

25

Maguindanao Most Requested Statistics, 2002, Compiled by the Maguindanao Provincial Office, Cotabato City for the National Statistics Office, September, 2003, unpublished.

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Poverty, neglect, and violence: Since many of interviewees are poor and uneducated, they see joining the CVO as a move necessary for survival. Mar explains this best: Who will give you a job or entrust you with work especially if they know about my background? What happens when they find out that I have killed people? […] I don’t want this job but I need it to live…it’s for my parents. What will happen to my brothers and sisters?

Community and family acceptance: If one’s child is invited to be a pagali member’s escort, it is difficult to refuse or prevent it from happening, especially as it is seen as desirable to be close to people in power. For children whose parents are already involved with the pagali, being a CVO member simply means taking over the family’s source of livelihood. This is evident with Jonathan, who was recruited as a CVO member by the barangay captain at age 10. When asked about what his mother thought of the recruitment, Jonathan replied, “She didn’t say anything because my father was already a CVO [member] before me.” Social support structure: It is also likely that children find a social support structure in CVOs. This is especially true for children who have been left with nowhere else to go after friends and classmates have moved on to better things. As Mar puts it, “…almost all of my friends before… classmates… got work in other places, got to continue their studies. I had nothing. At least as a bodyguard, I was earning some money.” Status: Even if working for the CVO doesn’t pay very well, security or the honour of being associated with a very powerful group in the community are added compensations for some children. Regarding his membership to the CVO, Mar says: It may seem like nothing, but for us, it feels like it’s an honour for us too be close to the datu. It’s like we are leaning on a strong wall and we can be assured that whatever happens to us, there will be someone to defend us or someone to run to. It’s the same thing with them depending on us.

Desire for revenge: For children like Ahmad, who lost his father in an encounter with the police, revenge also serves as a motivation to join the CVO. Ahmad emphasises this in his statement: “I want to learn [to handle a gun, martial arts] and be skilful. I will avenge my father’s death. I am angry with the police. They killed my father.” Although not directly mentioned in the interviews, children may also join the CVO to avenge the death of relatives killed by rival clans. This desire for revenge may possibly lead to a rido. Three pathways to involvement: how children and youth get involved Gradual involvement: For some children, the pathway towards involvement takes on a slow approach, following the four levels described in the next section: ‘tagging along’ (pagsamasama), ‘helping out’ with small jobs, and eventually being hired as a CVO member. Later, if the children perform satisfactorily, they may be hired as CVO members, where they are eventually exposed to the pagali’s illegal activities. Amir’s story follows this pathway to involvement: I was best friends with the captain’s son in my first year of high school. […] Sometimes, I even slept in their house. In the second year of high school, the captain’s son went to Cotabato to study. I was left in Marang but I still went to the captain’s house often. Sometimes, I would watch TV with them. I would also go with the captain every time he needed to run errands. I think that’s where it started. Then it came to the point that the captain let me hold a gun. At that time, I was so proud.

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Membership through relations and family ties: A child may skip the stage of pasamasama and immediately take on the duties of a CVO member by taking over for a family member, like a father, uncle, or brother. Jonathan took over his father’s CVO position at the young age of 10 because his father was one of the mayor’s most trusted men. Children known by the pagali through their parents or through other associates like friends or neighbours usually skip the level of ‘small jobs.’ Entrapment: While none of the interviewees became involved this way, it is possible for a child to join the CVO due to a debt to the pagali, as described in Part I. Current Involvement: Four levels of involvement Pasama-sama or tagging-along: Children’s initial contact with members of the pagali – including the municipal councillor, barangay captain, mayor, or other CVO members – is usually personal. Because there is a strong emphasis on trustworthiness and on maintaining a code of silence,26 most recruits to CVOs are neighbours, family friends, or those who parents are trusted by members, especially those who already work for the pagali. Contact with these children from an early age inspires the trust of the mayor or barangay captain, making it easy for them to be invited to join the CVO later on. Small jobs: Officials can ask children and youths to help out or join in for small jobs, which can be very similar to the duties of a regular CVO member. These include escorting politicians and their families and providing them with protection, sometimes carrying weapons to do this. Danny remembers that his first small job for the councillor was to escort him during bus inspections. Although the completion of small jobs may eventually lead to acceptance into the CVO, the mayor also allows others to join in only to a certain point, not letting them become CVO members. Duties: Children and youth in CVOs focus on providing protection to important members of the pagali. Aside from performing armed escort duties, the young CVO members may also be asked to perform household chores in the often highly fortified pagali compound, such as cleaning shoes, washing the car, or tending the garden. Some CVO members are also made to guard the estate or collect illegal fees from vehicles passing through the outposts that they maintain. Nasir gives some details about this particular duty: We also have a CVO outpost that we guard. […] There, we collect twenty pesos [about US$0.36] from every vehicle that passes through. Ten pesos [about US$0.18] for the tricycles. This happens everyday, that’s why we have to rotate our duties every week.

Malalaking lakad: The deepest and most risky level of involvement with the CVOs is when the child begins to participate in what is termed as ‘malalaking lakad.’27 In the context of the pagali, this usually refers to the mayor’s illegal activities. Interviews with children reveal that this ranges from kidnapping, extortion and instigating displacement to murder, torture and drug trafficking. It may take time before a child or youth CVO member is allowed to participate as a key player in the malalaking lakad. Ironically, some children and youths who are already entrusted with armalites28 and pistols are still perceived as 26

The code of silence plays a very important role in the dynamics between the pagali-dictatorship and the CVOs with the community. This relationship is fully discussed in Part I. 27 Literally, ‘big jobs’ or major tasks. 28 ArmaLite, originally ArmaLite Division, Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation, is one of the most influ-

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too young to join these kinds of operations. Jonathan’s father has intervened before to make sure that his 12 year-old son does not join any major operations for the time being: Whenever the captain says that I’ll be joining them in a big job, my father will talk to him and request that I should be left behind. […] He said he should just be the one to go because it is too dangerous and I am still very young.

Ahmad is eager to be more involved in major operations. Yet, he is still not allowed to play major roles in the mayor’s kidnapping operation: “As of now, they [other CVO members] still don’t want to bring me along [on kidnapping operations]. They say I’m still young. I should just stay inside the mayor’s compound. They say I still have to learn many things.” When children are involved at this level, their participation may be limited to seemingly minor roles, such as that of look-outs or surveillance of a potential kidnap victim. Nonetheless, their participation is necessary to maximise the likelihood of success and the child or youth is an accomplice to a crime. The following chart summarises different types of activities of children and youth in CVOs used as private armies in the Philippines: Armed Involvement 1) accompany head of pagali or boss, serve as escorts or bodyguards

Unarmed Involvement 1) act as a look-out, to conduct surveillance against movements of rival pagali and other enemies and to conduct surveillance on people/families targeted for kidnapping by the pagali

2) maintain and man perimeter outposts, and extort money from drivers/owners of passing vehicles 3) kill enemies, and summarily execute law transgressors, particularly those who have been warned several times

2) man or help out in the stores and businesses owned by the pagali

4) run after cattle rustlers, members of other armed groups, rival pagali

4) do housework at the residence of the head of the pagali

5) conduct night patrols (since the policemen in the town sleep at night and leave the patrolling to the CVOs) and maintain the nightly curfew (usually starting at 9pm till early morning)

5) clean and maintain the guns under the supervision of the head of the CVO or the pagali

6) participate in raids conducted in areas held by rival pagali and conduct looting, which may be sanctioned by the head of the pagali or CVO group

6) work as labourers or farmhands in the estates owned by the pagali

7) watch over a marijuana plantation owned by the pagali in three-day shifts

7) drive the tricycle29 owned by the head of the pagali

3) wash the clothes of elder CVOs

ential corporations in the history of 20th century small arms. It is responsible for many of the infantry weapons in service worldwide today. The interviewees use the term ‘armalite’ to refer to their assault rifles, such as the M16 and M4 models. 29 The tricycle is a common transport vehicle in the Philippines. It is a motorcycle outfitted with a sidecar. An all-purpose vehicle of sorts, the tricycle is capable of carrying more than five persons.

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Types of relationships within the CVOs The primary relationship between a child and a member of the pagali is that of a boss and a worker. Among the ten respondents, two work for a councillor or kagawad, six work for barangay captains, one for a vice mayor, and one for the mayor. The mayor is the utak or ‘brains’ of all of the activities and operations a child is involved in as a member of the CVO. For some children, the mayor is the reason they have become involved in criminal activity. They feel that because the mayor did not condemn their deeds, it was fine to go on with what they were doing. This relationship can also be defined more by fear than respect. The mayor also funds these activities, including guns and other expenses that may be incurred during an operation. According to Ahmad: “During a bus hold up, one of us was injured. They brought him to a hospital in Davao. […] Of course, the mayor paid for everything.” Aside from the role as the brains and sponsor of the CVO’s activities, the leader is also recognised by the child as an arbiter or authority when it comes to internal conflicts with other CVO members. Danny reiterates this: “If there’s a misunderstanding, we immediately approach the councillor so we can talk about it. Of course, we are afraid to make mistakes.” When asked about punishment for CVO members who commit mistakes, interviewees only mention being scolded or lectured by their respective bosses. Yet it is noted that, similar to one’s level of involvement, the assigned punishment also depends on the mistake or conflict made by the particular CVO member. As mentioned earlier, failing to follow orders to murder a pagali enemy can be punishable by death. Another possible relationship a leader may share with the child is that of a father figure. In this relationship, the child sees the leader as someone who is taking care of him and his family. Because CVO members are in charge of providing protection for the pagali leader and his family, a child tends to spend much time in the residence of his employers. Donald has such a close relationship with his leader, a barangay captain, that he sleeps at the latter’s house. I’ve been living with the barangay captain since February 2000. I don’t know how it happened. I only used to sleep there sometimes until it became much more often. Now they have a room there just for me. The captain is very good to me. He treats me like I’m his eldest child.

Strict compliance on a need-to-know basis Children and youth interviewed for the study were often unsure of the details of their work, even in dangerous endeavours like drug dealing or kidnapping. According to Rudy: “Our job is just to do as we are told. We also don’t know why. They don’t tell us and no one’s brave enough to ask.” Although they may be vaguely aware of what illegal activity is involved, their accounts are peppered with uncertainties. One example is seen in the widespread looting of civilian homes during times of conflict, when the community is forced to flee to safer ground. Nasir says: Even us CVOs have noticed that conflict tends to happen during the harvest season [when CVOs can steal thousands of sacks of rice]. […] He [the mayor] is the one who orders the operation during the harvest season. We wouldn’t go into a community if the mayor didn’t give the order. They have many reasons for our operation that we don’t understand because no one really asks questions either.

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Discrepancies in compensation Neither the legal framework nor the pagali itself establish definite payments for children and youth in CVOs. Monetary compensation appears to be dependent on the position or rank (and consequently the salaries or benefits) enjoyed by their immediate boss. At the high end of the spectrum, Ahmad received a monthly salary of 3,000 pesos (or about US$54) as well as rice, clothes and other benefits for his family. Habib and Danny do not have a fixed salary though they occasionally receive a ‘bonus’ of around 100 pesos (just under US$2) for their work. Mar said he “sometimes” receives 1,000 pesos (or about US$18), and may also receive more money from the mayor during major operations, like kidnappings. However child CVO members tend to get less pay than adult CVO members. Rudy states that his commander gets the biggest cut and he is left with very little. Still, a payment for a minor role in a big operation is larger than a child’s usual salary. Ahmad describes how he is paid for acting as a lookout in a kidnap operation: Of course, the family [of the kidnap victim] will pay. Sometimes it’s in millions, sometimes just a few hundred thousands. The money goes to all of us. Everyone has a share. Of course, the mayor gets the bigger share. I don’t know about the others, but I remember the mayor gave me 5,000 pesos [approximately US$90].

Guns and Armed Violence Children are taught to use guns at a very young age and violence, even outside the army-rebel conflicts is rampant. Within an unstable and impoverished society besieged by armed conflict, clan wars, and militarisation, youth CVO members find security and stability in the firearms they carry. For example, when asked about the fear of being hurt or killed as a CVO member, Habib commented, “We are no longer scared [of bad elements] because that is the reason why we have guns.” Of the ten CVO members who took part in this study, four were armed during the interview. The team’s field researcher observed that their guns were .38 to .45 calibre pistols. All four armed CVO members were interviewed within their working areas, which could be the reason why they were confident enough to bring their guns. The other six interviews were held outside their working areas. Although these interviewees did not bring guns, most were still armed with fan knives for self-defence. They also indicated that they used and held guns when ‘on duty’ in their respective areas. However, none of the children and youths interviewed indicated they had received any form of formal firearms training as members of the CVO. For many, it was simply a loose system of self-practice and informal tutorials with older CVO members. Some of the children, such as Ahmad, had exposure to such weapons before joining a CVO: I entered the CVO when I was 15 to take over my father’s job. But […] I already knew how to hold a gun. I think I was 10 the first time I tried it. It was my father’s gun…either his armalite or his garrand.30

Experience One feature that differentiates children and youth in CVOs used as private armies from children involved in the Philippines ongoing armed conflict is that the former may 30

Garrand M-1 Rifle

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not engage in gunfights with opposing groups. In fact, only one of the CVO members indicated that he had been involved in such an encounter (although others had heard of such confrontations between CVOs and policemen). Rather, while CVOs are meant to support the military and police, children actually use their guns and weapons mainly to protect the economic and political interest of the pagali dictatorship or any powerful clan, or in involvement in pagali-led criminal activities. Therefore, experience of violence is set in a very different context and takes place in a considerably more covert manner. In Matengen, guns are also used in kidnap operations and occasional bus holdups. They are particularly important especially in encounters with the police. In Marang, CVO members are made to fire their guns in order to create chaos in the community. When the residents panic and leave for safer places, CVOs ransack their homes and loot their farms, livelihood, and belongings. Rudy describes this in detail: There are some of us who get whatever they can make use of. There are many things…rice…animals…things in the homes left behind by the civilians. Sometimes, all it takes is a few minutes of shooting. When the residents are far away, everyone starts stealing for himself.

Amad has yet to use his weapon, although he has participated in a kidnap operation as a look-out. Other interviewees have been readier to admit that their weapons are used to kill, although they reason that this is only for people who are ‘hard-headed’ and create problems in the community such as robbers and cattle rustlers. Habib explains, “There is no evidence that I have killed anyone but that is what we do when there are people who don’t listen.” The other extreme is the case of Rudy and Nasir, who witnessed the gruesome torture and murder of three teenagers suspected of involvement in the killing of a member of the ruling pagali in Marang. Rudy narrates: They told us to put salt in his wounds. […] They cut parts of his body with a chain saw while he was still alive. He kept screaming because of the pain but […] he kept insisting that he didn’t know anything. That was painful for me to see. When we dumped their bodies in the water, I prayed that God would forgive me…

The possibility and reality of death Being part of a group with many enemies, children and young people involved with CVOs go through their lives aware that they could easily be killed in their line of work. None of the respondents openly expressed fear of being hurt or killed while on duty. However, some, like Ahmed, admit they could very well be the next victims: I guess I’ll probably end up the same way my father did [killed in an encounter], because in this type of work, things like that happen. That’s why I’m saving up for my brothers’ and sisters’ education.

Unfortunately, time is not always available for such dreams to come to fruition. Even before this chapter was finalised for submission, Rudy, one of the interviewees for this study, was killed in an encounter between the MILF and government forces on 16 December 2003. In spite of the groups involved, Rudy’s death is said to be rooted in a family feud. According to the team’s field researcher, a MILF commander, and member of a local pagali, was shot in front of the village market a day before the encounter. The main suspect in the shooting was a CVO leader and one of the pagali’s most trusted men. As expected, what 287

followed was the immediate retaliation of one family against another. Due to the powerful connections of both families, what occurred was a major fire-fight between the MILF and government troops made up of CVO’s, soldiers, and CAFGU.31 Rudy was shot in the back around 5:00 pm and died before he reached the hospital. There were no reports of the incident in the media. The team’s field researcher was able to attend Rudy’s funeral and speak with his 60 year-old mother, who was grieving and deeply saddened by her son’s death. She said Rudy had many plans for the family, which was why he could not resign from the CVO. The pagali gave the family a sack of rice and 1000 pesos (about US$18) to pay for funeral expenses. Rudy was only 25 years old at the time of his death. While these children and youths are made to take the lives of others, their own existence is just as expendable if ever they refuse to follow orders. Amir explains, “It depends on their orders. If they [the rival] are to be killed, you should kill them because you will suffer if you don’t. It’s your life in place of theirs. They [the pagali] can have you killed by the other CVO.” Perceptions and fears Children and youth CVO members who have not been too involved in the level of malalaking lakad or the pagali’s illegal activities still see themselves as people who are doing something ‘good’ for the community. In order to rationalise the issue of using guns to kill, they reasoned that the people who died were bad and deserved it anyway. Habib, for example, is proud of his contribution to their neighbourhood watch: “The police in our village are usually asleep. At night, there’s no one to guard the village. We are the ones who guard the village. We walk around to make sure everything is peaceful.” In contrast, children and young CVO members who have already seen a good deal of the pagali’s illegal activities are aware that they too play a part in this wide abuse of power. Knowing their duties revolve around just following orders, they continue with their actions – even if they know they are wrong – because they fear what may happen if they refuse. Mar admits this sad fact: Although it’s painful to admit it, we are the bad elements in our village. […] But if you think about it, the mayor is the one who is the most evil because he tolerates all of these bad activities and he’s the brains behind them too. […] But in the end, there’s nothing we can do. This is the job that we chose so we must follow whatever they want us to do.

The psychological affects of participating in acts of violence and murder became apparent amongst some of the respondents during interview. When asked about witnessing the murder of three teenagers by other CVO members, Nasir said, “I couldn’t sleep or eat for days. I could still see what they did to the three [teenagers].” But Amir finds a certain acceptance in what he has become: I have a friend [captain’s son] who is now a professional. As for me, I am now a murderer. This was not the life that I had dreamt of having. I didn’t think I would end up like this. I guess I was too young then. I think I was only 14 when I became a CVO. I didn’t think of what would happen in the future because 31

The Citizen Armed Forces Geographical Units (CAFGUs) are armed civilian units trained to help government troops in maintaining law and order in various locations in the Philippines. They are given military training and are given financial compensation by the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

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I needed money. […] It’s just that I couldn’t even afford things that didn’t cost that much. We are very poor. Now, I just accept this because this is what is available to me.

Future Perspectives Although seemingly trapped in their situation, children in this study have expressed that they too have plans for the future – if not for themselves, for their family and younger siblings. CVO members must ask the leader’s permission if they want to leave the group. This does not seem to be easily granted, as the young person may have been involved with some of the pagali’s illegal activities. An interview with Habib illustrates this point: Q: What if you want to resign from the CVO? Would l this be okay with the councillor? A: We don’t know if he will agree or not. Q: How about other CVO’s who have already resigned? How did they do it? A: We don’t know.

Not all interviewees were hopeless as regards the possibility of life outside the CVO. Habib and Danny still think they could find work other than being bodyguards of the councillor. Ironically, this is partly due to the fact that both receive the lowest compensation among the respondents (100 pesos, or about US$1.80, bonuses once in a while). Habib states: “I have many dreams in my life. The problem is…I don’t know…if being a CVO [member] is all I can rely on; it’s not enough for you to live.” But when asked to name some options they had in mind, answers were limited to vague descriptions such as “the good life” and “work that will be good for me.” In the case of Madz, the lone example amongst CVO members interviewed who was also a member of the pagali, other opportunities are more attainable. In fact, his duty as a CVO member was something temporary. By the time researchers contacted him for some follow-up questions, he was no longer a CVO member and was looking forward to finishing his electrical engineering course in Davao. Respondents dreamed of a better life for their younger siblings. Having money to send the rest of their siblings to school was seen as one of the main benefits of their work. According to Mar, “I accept whatever happens to me as long as my brothers and sisters don’t get involved.” Behind the image of a child with a gun is that of a hard worker who values the education that he did not manage to obtain. Ahmad makes a recommendation that was repeated in many of the interviews: “I hope that they all [his siblings] study hard if they are given the opportunity to learn. It’s hard not to have an education. This is the only job you’ll get.” III. COAV SOLUTIONS Child and youth involvement in CVOs presents a serious paradox for advocates and policy-makers. While the organisation of CVOs is legally mandated, they are used by local politicians in certain parts of the country as private armies, the existence of which is explicitly forbidden under the 1987 Philippine Constitution. Guidelines for CVOs specify 18 as the minimum age for membership but children as young as 12 have reportedly joined. Those involved deny both the use of CVOs as private armies and the involvement of children in these groups. This situation renders the children invisible and hard to reach. Children and youth in these CVOs are sometimes referred to as child soldiers, an indicator that the use of children as soldiers is not confined to armed opposition groups. Yet, if apprehended by the authorities, they may be treated as young offenders in conflict with the law. The involvement 289

of children and youths in CVOs used as private armies is also seen as a devastating consequence of the proliferation of small arms, of the decades-old insurgency problem in the country, of the practice of rido as a means to settle disputes, as well as a culture that equates gun ownership with religious and cultural heritage. A discussion of solutions for the prevention and reintegration of COAV in the Philippines, then, should address policies, programmes and interventions on child soldiers, juvenile justice, and the proliferation of small arms. National Policy Framework Child soldiers: The 1991 Republic Act 7610, The Special Protection of Children against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act, declares children as “zones of peace” and entitles them to protection.32 Under this act, children should not be the objects of attacks and should not be recruited to any armed group, nor be allowed to take part in the fighting, or be used as couriers, guides or spies. RA7610 establishes rules and regulations ensuring care and humane treatment of a child taken into custody by government forces in an area of armed conflict. The government’s Framework for a Comprehensive Program for Children Involved in Armed Conflict has three components: prevention; advocacy and mobilisation; and rescue, recovery and reintegration. An inter-agency Memorandum of Agreement in the Handling and Treatment of Children Involved in Armed Conflict (M0A) was signed between the military, police and relevant government agencies on 21 March 2000.33 The MOA stipulates procedures from the time of rescue or surrender of the child up to his or her placement under the protection of the Department of Social Welfare and Development or the local government unit. Despite gaps in implementation, these guidelines and processes outline how to deal with the individual cases of reintegration of child soldiers who have left armed opposition groups. The underlying message of these processes is that children should be viewed as victims rather than as offenders, irrespective of their being members of organised armed groups. But it is unclear whether children in CVOs are covered by these policies even though they have been reported as pursuing armed opposition groups alongside government armed forces. The above processes could apply to children and youth in organised armed violence within the Philippines and elsewhere. Children in the juvenile justice system There are special rules for the handling of children in conflict with the law as provided for in Presidential Decree 603 or the Child and Youth Welfare Code, and more recently, Republic Act 8369 or the Family Courts Act. In 2002, the Philippine Supreme Court approved child-sensitive rules of court, namely the Rule on Examination of Child Witnesses and the Rule on Juveniles in Conflict with the Law. Article 191 of the Child and Youth 32

See Article X Children in Situations of Armed Conflict. Interestingly, the RA 7610 does not use the term “child soldiers”. 33 The government agencies are: Department of National Defense, Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Health, Commission on Human Rights, Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, and National Unification and Development Commission.

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Welfare Code mandates that a child “from the time of his arrest be committed to the care of the Department of Social Welfare.” Section 11 of the Rules and Regulations on the Apprehension, Investigation, Prosecution, and Rehabilitation of Youth Offenders (1995) provides that “a youth from the time of his arrest be committed to the care of the Department or the local rehabilitation centre or in a detention home distinct and separate from jails.” The Rule on Examination of Child Witness aims to create and maintain a child-sensitive courtroom environment and questioning. The Rule on Juveniles in Conflict with the Law calls for diversion to Family Courts for cases where the maximum penalty imposed is imprisonment of not more than six months. The criminal liability of minor or youth offenders or children in conflict with the law (CICL) is determined as follows: below nine years of age, the offender is exempt from any criminal liability; from nine to below 15 years of age, the offender is exempt from criminal liability, unless the minor acted “with discernment”, or is determined to have knowledge of right and wrong; and from 15 to below 18 years of age, the offender may be held criminally liable but is given a lower penalty. However, most judges do not take note of these distinctions. Children’s rights may be seriously violated as they are often treated by the courts as adult offenders, and jailed together with adults. Further, the pagali frequently evade the justice system, and few children serving the CVOs will ever be dealt with by juvenile courts as crimes committed by the pagali’s henchmen are usually settled within the pagali. Regulations on firearms The Firearms and Explosive Division of the Philippine National Police is the agency mandated with administering, enforcing and implementing rules and regulations related to firearms and explosives. The president included arms smuggling or trafficking as a priority concern in the creation of the Philippine Centre on Transnational Crime (PCTC) under Executive Order No. 62 on 15 January 1999.34 Despite government efforts to curb firearms trafficking, the proliferation of illicit firearms persists because of the following factors: huge profits; connivance among gun running syndicates encouraged by corrupt law enforcers; persistent involvement of influential people trying to beef up their protection, especially where illegal activities are involved; and the Filipinos’ yearning for guns.35 It is interesting to note that rules and regulations for gun control are difficult to implement, particularly in Mindanao, given the high importance and priority that individuals attach to the possession of firearms.36

34

Presidential Decree 1866 as amended by Republic Act 8294 punishes “the unlawful manufacture, acquisition, disposition or possession of firearms, parts of firearm or ammunition and the machinery, tool or instrument used or intended to be used in the manufacture of any firearm or ammunition.” Violations are punishable with imprisonment and/or a fine. 35 Philippine Center on Transnational Crimes, “Trafficking in Firearms,” pg. 59. Available on www.pctc.gov.ph 36 Makinano and Lubang (2001), “Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration: The Mindanao Experience,” prepared for the International Security Research and Outreach Programme, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

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Promising Practices: Key Approaches in Dealing with COAV Prior to the formation of the Philippine Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers in 2001, the problem of child soldiers had never been publicly discussed by government institutions or non-governmental organisations. The Philippine Coalition was formed as a result of a national consultation workshop held by four organizations37 to consolidate knowledge, opinions, attitudes, and feelings on the issue of child soldiers. The Philippine Coalition is now composed of around 50 organisations and individuals that work for the protection of children from the dangers of war and against their involvement in hostilities,38 Since its formation, the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict was ratified by the Philippine government on April 3, 2003. In the same vein, the Coalition to Stop Child Detention through Restorative Justice works toward stopping the widespread practice of jailing children with adults. It seeks “to impress upon everyone that the jailing of children with adults is done by the state on a national scale in a systematic, organised, and widespread manner”39 is a crime against humanity that violates several UN standards and national policies. In December 2001, the Coalition launched a campaign to stop responsible authorities from jailing children with adults. It urged its members to: issue their own statement condemning the practice of jailing of children with adults; document cases of the practice of jailing children with adults in their respective areas; e-mail or fax their organisation’s statement and documentation to media outlets and international organisations; and write letters to the Office of the President, Interior and Local Government Secretary, and Police officials. The Coalition is composed of 25 organisations and concerned individuals nationwide committed to advocating for alternatives to jail for children in conflict with the law. The Philippine Action Network on Small Arms (PHILANSA) is a network of concerned individuals representing 14 civil society groups across the Philippines who are working to reduce the negative impact of illegal small arms and light weapons. PHILANSA was conceived following a recommendation made in the July 2002 Small Arms Regional Conference attended by delegates from 22 countries. Although the proliferation of small arms is a worldwide problem that must be dealt with at the global level, solutions must also be found at the community level. In April 2003, PHILANSA embarked on an 18month multi-media public awareness campaign to provide communities with information on small arms issues and to help them find potential solutions. The campaign hopes to challenge local government officials and students to develop responses to the dangers posed by the proliferation of small arms in their communities. 37

These were the UP CIDS Program on Psychosocial and Human Rights (UP CIDS PST), Human Rights Youth Action Network of the Amnesty International-Filipinas Section (HRYAN), Philippine Human Rights Information Center (PhilRights), and Kabiba Alliance for Children’s Concerns. The Iligan City-based Balay Integrated Rehabilitation Center for Total Human Development replaced Kabiba Alliance in the Steering Committee in 2002. 38 Mission statement of the Philippine Coalition to Stop the Use of Children as Soldiers formulated during the first national consultation workshop held in March 2001. 39 Correspondence with Perfecto G. Caparas, 21 December 2003.

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Good practice case study 1: Community-Based Diversion Programme for CICL When carrying out prevention and protection programs, great emphasis should be given to facilitating the involvement of communities. The community-based approach is exemplified by the Community-Based Diversion Program for Children in Conflict with the Law, a pilot programme of the Free Rehabilitation, Economic, Education and Legal Assistance Volunteers Association, Inc. (FREELAVA, INC.), and organisation that works with children in conflict with the law (CICL) in Cebu City at the barangay level. The program trains and organises a pool of community volunteers to provide support to CICL. The CICL are then trained to serve as peer facilitators in their communities. The project encourages and supports the participation of parents of CICL, government and school officials, and social workers in the barangay level committees that are given the task of implementing diversion programmes in their communities. To address the recovery and reintegration of CICL, the project provides psychosocial interventions such as counselling, has instituted a monitoring scheme to follow-up individual cases, and conducts crime prevention activities in the communities. Through the participation of community volunteers, the programme (a) prevents children from being in conflict with the law, (b) prevents children who commit minor offences from entering the formal justice system, and (c) facilitates the reintegration of CICL into the community. FREELAVA affirms that a community-based approach to the CICL issue is an effective alternative to residential care.40 Reintegrating back to society after life in an armed group or in jail can be a harrowing experience for children and young people. “We help the children overcome the stigmas that often push them back to jail,” says Antonio Auditor, Executive Director of FREELAVA, the NGO that runs the project.41 Balay Pasilungan is a transition centre for children released from prison, and serves as an alternative family environment. Since it was established in 1997 it has become a temporary home for almost 1,000 CICL, preparing them to return to their families and communities. The majority of its residents are aged 13 to 15 years old, with the majority of their sentences under suspension. Good practice case study 2: Maladeg Peace Zone In situations of intense and continued fighting, an all-too-frequent response is more violence: a military solution to quell the fighting. The residents of Maladeg have shown that there are other alternatives, and that violence as a way of life can be stopped, with support from the community. The Maladeg Peace Zone is unique because it was designed by the people themselves. The signing of the covenant brought about peace in this barangay that had been devastated by a two-decade family feud (rido) between prominent Christian and Muslim families that intensified into Christian-Muslim conflict. The warring families signed the Covenant of Peace and Development to begin a reconciliation process. The signatories of the peace zone covenant are clan leaders who used to be mortal enemies but who today are sworn to protect each other. Other signatories include leaders of MILF and MNLF, the chief of police, and a colonel of the Philippine Army. A council of elders sees to it that the rules 40 41

Based on a briefing paper prepared by Antonio Auditor, Executive Director of FREELAVA, undated. “Balay Pasilunganan Community Force,” Sun Star Cebu, September 16, 2003.

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are implemented and communicated to all families in the peace zone. If family or clan is unable to implement the rules, the signatories of the covenant – datus and other leaders – will take over. The committee’s record in successful conflict mediation has been spectacularly high. Unlike the majority of Maranaos mediators, they do not charge a 30% fee on the settlement sum. They have built a reputation for fairness, regardless of their social rank. They have the cooperation of the residents in maintaining the peace zone as all residents are now living in peace.42 Recommendations The challenge of prevention and protection of children involved in CVOs used as private armies requires a multi-faceted and strategic approach. Various cases drawn from experience in the Philippines have pointed up the following recommendations for dealing with the issue of children in organised armed violence: • Regulations on CVOs should be strictly enforced, including those for minimum age (18) and maximum number of CVOs per barangay, among others. • The CVOs should limit their operation to the area of their jurisdiction – at the barangay level. As such, there should be no CVOs for the mayor, who has jurisdiction over a municipality. • The CVO members should be given standard benefits, such as health insurance and social security. Although CVO involvement is voluntary by nature, it is recommended that a monthly stipend be allotted in order to discourage volunteers’ involvement in criminal activities. • CVO members and their supervising officials should undergo regular training sessions covering issues like human rights, community policing, assessment of roles and responsibilities, disaster management, and conflict resolution, and a government budget should be allocated for this purpose. • Only police should provide a uniformed and armed presence in the community – not CVOs, which should emphasise a civilian identity. • There is a need to raise awareness on child and youth involvement in CVOs used as private armies and information on violations of Philippine laws and international standards protecting the rights of children. • Providing alternatives to joining the organised armed groups should be a priority. Examples include livelihood programs for families and youth; providing formal and non-formal education for children and youth; providing educational alternatives to children and youth, such as sports, recreation, clubs etc.; and lobbying for child protection laws and policies at the local and national levels. • Social recovery and reintegration programs for children and youth who decide to leave organised armed groups should be established, focusing on rehabilitation rather than punishment. 42

Based on Siton-Nanaman (2002), “Local Peace Alternative to Ethnic Conflict in Mindanao: The Bual, Dinas and Maladeg Peace Zone Experiences.”

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• There is a need to raise the awareness of the public, especially in the communities where CVOs are used as private armies, of the negative impact of child and youth involvement in armed groups. • There is a need to disseminate the information that child and youth involvement in CVOs used as (pagsama-sama) private armies by local politicians violates Philippine laws and international standards protecting the rights of children.

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TERUGSKIET (RETURNING FIRE): GROWING UP ON THE STREET CORNERS OF MANENBERG, SOUTH AFRICA. Ted Legget, Institute for Security Studies This chapter focuses on criminal street gangs in the Cape Flats (Cape Town) that have been a feature of coloured communities there for over fifty years, and are aligned to prison gangs, known as the numbers. Part One gives a contextualised summary of these groups. Part Two takes a closer look at the human face of this phenomenon, with profiles of individuals involved. Part Three examines possible solutions to the problem, with an evaluation of relevant social programmes and policies. A full-length version of the report summarised in this chapter can be found at www.coav.org.br. Introduction The population selected for study was the ‘coloured’1 population of the Cape Flats outside Cape Town, South Africa. The coloured population suffers the highest rates of homicide in the country, at 106 per 100,000 in 2003.2 Indeed, more than half of all deaths among coloured males in the 16-30 year old age group are caused by murder.3 The Western Cape, where Cape Town is located, also has the highest rates of crime and homicide in the country, and the policing areas that comprise Cape Town have the highest rates within the province.4 The coloured areas of the Western Cape are also unique in the country with regard to the prevalence of street gangs. While other ethnic communities in South Africa have what are referred to as ‘gangs’, these tend to be short-term associations of criminal individuals, rather than institutions in themselves.5 In common parlance, any group of delinquent young people could be referred to as a ‘gang’, but these groupings do not necessarily have a life independent of the personalities of their members. In other words, if the individuals involved in the ‘gang’ were to be arrested or killed, the ‘gang’ would cease to exist. This is not true in the Cape Flats, where coloured gangs have a long history and have become a defining part of everyday life. Given these facts, it was decided to focus on this area for the study. 1

There is not, nor has there ever been, a clear definition of the population group referred to as ‘coloured’. Since at least the 19th century, there has been recognition of a non-Bantu-speaking ethnic group located primarily in the Cape, but the term ‘coloured’ was used during this time to describe everyone who was not a colonist. Coloured people are often referred to as ‘mixed race’, as if in contrast to the ‘pure’ African, Asian, and European lineages. Under apartheid, they occupied a place in the hierarchy below the whites and Indians but above the Blacks. The ‘privileges’ of being coloured did much to consolidate a sense of independent identity, but many complain that this intermediate status has meant that they were not ‘white enough’ for the past regime and are not ‘black enough’ for the present one. 2 Projected 2003 murders per 100,000 by population group in JDS Thomson, (2004), “A murderous legacy: Coloured homicide trends in South Africa”, SA Crime Quarterly 7, pp 9-14. 3 Percentage of all coloured deaths caused by homicide, 16-30 year age group, by gender (Thomson: 2004). 4 2002/3 crime rates by province, South African Police Service Crime Analysis Information Centre; and Murder rates per 100,000 – South Africa and the Western Province, South African Police Service. 5 There are reports that this is changing, particularly in the black areas adjoining coloured townships.

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Methodology A 1,300 household victim survey was conducted in August 2003 in Manenberg, one of the most notorious gang areas in the Cape Flats.6 As a follow up to this survey, four focus groups – two youth (16 – 18 year olds) and two elder (40 – 59 year olds) – were conducted with community members in early October 2003. In addition, a twopage yes-no/true-false questionnaire was administered to 200 students on 6 October 2003 at three senior secondary schools in Manenberg: Manenberg, Silverstream, and Phoenix. A total of 72 males and 128 females between 16 and 19 years of age completed the questionnaire. In researching Part Two, eight gang members were interviewed: five from the Manenberg Hard Livings (HL), two from the Elsie’s River 26 Americans, and one girl gangster from Manenberg. All respondents were between 17 and 29 years-old at the time of interview but had joined their respective gangs in their early teens. Under 17 year-old members were not interviewed, to avoid ethical complications. In addition, focus groups were held with both Manenberg and Elsie’s River gang members, and four focus groups were held with Manenberg community members: two with youths between the ages of 16 and 18 years and two with elders between the ages of 40 and 59 years. In researching Part Three, the researcher contacted via telephone a range of contacts that have been active in either evaluating or in actively providing services to young offenders, and asked them to identify two best practice programmes aimed at children and youth in organised armed violence. I. CONTEXTUALISED SUMMARY OF COAV Area of Study Profile Until 1994, South Africa was a non-democratic country controlled by its white minority under the notorious policy of racial segregation known as apartheid. Since that time, there have been three national government elections, all won by the African National Congress (ANC). According to South Africa’s official police statistics, the country had a homicide rate of 47 per 100,000 in the 2002/3 financial year,7 placing the country among the most dangerous places in the world. South Africa also has some of the world’s highest rates of rape and robbery,8 as well as other violent crimes. Firearms ownership is high: in October 2002 there was one registered firearm for every six South Africans over 20,9 and this does not take into account what is, by all estimates, a massive pool of unregistered firearms. In the financial year 2001/2, the South African Po6

Sampling was random geographic, using the police enumeration areas (known as CAS blocks) as sampling units. As the population of the area is estimated at about 80,000, this sample is quite substantial (nearly 2% of the general population, nearly 8% of households). 7 Crime Information Analysis Centre (2004), 2002/3 Crime Statistics. http://www.saps.gov.za/8_crimeinfo/ 200309/index.htm 8 Comparative robbery rates (Newman: 1999) 9 Mistry, D., A. Minnaar, J. Redpath, and J. Dlamini (2002), “The role of the criminal justice system in excluding unfit persons from firearm ownership”. Pretoria: Unpublished report of the Institute for Human Rights and Criminal Justice Studies, Technikon SA.

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lice Services (SAPS) reported seizing over 20,000 illegal firearms,10 and every year around 15,000 South Africans are arrested for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.11 The Cape Flats: Manenberg In this study, gangsters were interviewed in two coloured townships – Manenberg and Elsie’s River – but most of the additional fieldwork was done in Manenberg. Manenberg provides a good case study of a coloured township with a history of gang problems. Manenberg is a township of just over 80,000 residents located just inland from the city of Cape Town. It is part of what is called the Cape Flats, a flat, arid area into which the ‘non-white’ urban population of Cape Town was ‘removed’ under South Africa’s segregationist laws. Manenberg was established between 1966 and 1970, and consists of rows of semi-detached houses and two- and three-story ‘council flats’. Since it was originally planned merely to house labour, there was little planning for the development of local business and services, and to this day the area remains largely residential. Focus group members said they had to go outside the area to buy clothing, for example. The area has long been notorious for criminal activity, particularly gangsterism. Manenberg was the home of the infamous Staggie twins, Rashied and Rashaad. They led what was at one time one of the most formidable gangs in the Cape, the Hard Livings Kids. Rashaad was killed by the vigilante group People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (Pagad) on 4 August 1996. His brother, known as ‘Mad Dog’, continues to reign to this day, according to members of his gang, despite claims he has converted to Christianity. He has an injunction barring him from entering Manenberg except to participate in anti-gang activities, and was recently arrested for raping a young girl. Brief Historical Analysis of the Situation Institutional gangs have not always been the exclusive province of the coloured population. They were a major issue in the black townships around Johannesburg in the past but the political struggle for democracy absorbed many of the young people who had previously turned to gangs for meaning (Glaser: 2000). This level of political participation was not seen in the coloured community, and the lack of a sense of alternative purpose for angry youth may be one reason why gangs persist in the Cape Flats. It is also cause for concern that, as political momentum is lost and emerging black youth lose faith in the ability of the government to deliver on development promises in their lifetimes, black gangs may emerge as an unintended by-product of democratic victory. There are some reports that this is already happening, especially in the black townships that abut coloured areas. In general, at present, two types of institutional gangs in South Africa are prominent: the prison (numbers) gangs and the coloured street gangs. The numbers gangs The numbers allegedly date back to the 19th century. These groups, supposedly black African in origin, are open to members of any ethnic group, but are dominated by 10

South African Police Service (2002), “Annual Report of the South African Police Service”. Pretoria: Government Printers. 11 CIAC (2004) op cit.

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coloureds in the Western Cape. Obligatory tattoos (‘chappies’) reflect the symbols of their foundation myth, or ‘boeke’, and include books, swords, and military insignia. In their classic form, the numbers were three: 26s (dedicated to raising money by trickery), the 28s (dedicated to improving conditions in prison), and the 27s (dedicated to moderating disputes between the other two factions). Initially, all the gangs were intended to work together, each performing its own specialised function for the good of all gang members. Today, the 28s are best known for their keeping of ‘wives’: gang members whose role is to provide sex and perform other ‘feminine’ services. The 27s have never been a large body, because of their thankless role as intermediaries. These three groups have come to be present in youth reformatories12 and, according to informants in this study, have become even more prominent in reform schools than in prison. In the 1980s, however, with the growth of the drug trade, the numbers gangs began to take a greater interest in the street gangs. Furthermore, new gangsters, prominent in the street but unknown inside prison walls, now had the resources to buy prison gang rank and associated lore. Eventually, prison gangs began to manifest themselves under their own names on the streets, and street gangsters who had never been to prison could buy numbers membership. At present, the primary feud on the streets is between 26s and 28s. Once outside the prison walls, the 26/28 conflict fell in line with street alliances. This division is uneasy, however, because in prison members of any street gang can join either number. Even the Staggie twins had different numbers: Rashaad was a 26, and Rashied is a 28. Thus, prison gang brothers could become street gang enemies, and vice versa. How this is ultimately negotiated seems to vary considerably from case to case. Street gangs While their names have changed over the years, street gangs have been a major feature in the coloured community since at least the end of WWII.13 In their early manifestations in District Six (a mixed race area in central Cape Town which was dismantled under the Group Areas Act14 in 1950), and elsewhere, they were often protective neighbourhood formations designed to fend off ‘skollies’ (wandering criminals). But often these protective formations became predatory as members took over rival criminal operations and began to extract protection money from community members.15 After the Group Areas Act forced removals under apartheid, young men from different communities were removed to the same area and found themselves in competition for scarce local resources. The clearest lines of gang formation were along the lines of the pre12

Children convicted of criminal offences can be sentenced to residential reformatory schools, which often teach industrial skills. 13 Don Pinnock (1988) op cit. 14 The Cape Flats are conveniently located within commuting distance but out of sight of the city centre. Housing black and coloured people in separate areas of the Flats allowed a ready source of cheap labour while reserving the city itself for white residents. Since the original removals, the area has also become the first stop for new migrants to the area, especially the masses of Xhosa-speaking people emigrating from the impoverished Eastern Cape. 15 Ibid.

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vious communities, and so the gangs found a new identity in the Cape Flats. This also had the consequence of creating cells of District Six gangs in different communities, a fact that made regional organisation a possibility. The introduction of Mandrax16 in the mid 1980s and crack cocaine after 1994 added new fuel to the gang fire. Suddenly, gangs provided the real possibility of wealth for a select few. Each generation seems to spawn its own street gangs, but these are usually just renamed continuations of early versions. For example, the Mongrels became the Junkie Funkie Kids and the Cape Town Scorpions, the Dixie Boys. School age children play at being gangsters and form formations for mutual protection and general mischief. It can be difficult to differentiate between these groups and street gangs. The proliferation of gangs with ‘Boys’ or ‘Kids’ in the name may partially be a result of school groupings (‘baby gangs’) being integrated wholesale into the established gang groupings, and sometimes taking over. According to the police, the ‘Cat Pounds’ are an upstart school gang, and are comprised mainly of school-age members. Actors Involved In the victim survey, respondents mentioned the following gangs as controlling their neighbourhoods: the Americans (57% of mentions); the Hard Livings Kids (29%); the Junky Funky Kids (22%); the Dixie Boys (17%); the Clever Kids (12%); the Cat Pounds (10%); and the Jesters (8%). However, there is no easy way of estimating how many gangs or gang members there are in the Cape Flats. There is no clear dividing line between ‘wannabe’ groups like the school gangs and real street gangs, and the names and territories of street gangs are subject to constant amendment. Prison gang membership is binding even after release, but former inmate’s involvement in ongoing criminality varies considerably. Even the concept of ‘membership’ is vague, because many gangs go through slumps during which regular involvement in gang activities may be suspended. The school survey suggested that gang domination of the entire territory of Manenberg is not complete: 56% said a gang controlled the area where they live, with equal shares of boys and girls so responding. This corresponds well to the 60% of victim survey respondents who said there were gangs in their area. In the school survey, a total of 19% of the boys said that someone in their home is a gang member, compared to 13% of the girls. Using only the share of households willing to admit harbouring a gang member, this suggests at the very least 1,400 gang households in a community of about 80,000, and it is possible (if not likely) that multiple members could reside in a single household. An estimate of about 5,000 gangs members in Manenberg (given by one member of the community interviewed for this study), could be a good approximation. This would account for about 30% of males between the ages of 10 and 30. Command Structure While the ranking structure of prison gangs is military and hierarchical, ranking among street gangs is often informal, with dominant members commanding respect more 16

Mandrax, a street version of a discontinued pharmaceutical sedative of the same name; the tablet is smoked with a combination of tobacco and cannabis that has been treated with a solvent in a combination known as a ‘white pipe’.

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through force of personality than by reference to status within the institution. There is also considerable variation between gangs and even within gangs situated in different areas in this regard. The Manenberg Hard Livings, for example, seem to have a flat leadership structure, with a semi-democratic form of decision-making based on weekly group meetings. The authority of the Staggie family is not questioned, but beyond that, authority seems to be related to initiative more than to formal promotions. Terms like ‘laksman’, ‘dikneck’, and ‘slagozi’ are tossed about, but these seem more honorific titles than designations of structural authority. The Americans interviewed in this study in Elsie’s River, on the other hand, were heavily aligned to the 26s, and thus acknowledged their rank structure. They were also dealing with what appears to be a much more lucrative local drug market, and so had a need for a more rigid chain of command. Most, if not all, top gang leaders live outside the Cape Flats, although they do maintain homes in the townships. Imprisoned leaders are given great deference, in part as a self-protection measure in case of incarceration. Sunday is the traditional day to visit gang leaders and comrades in prison. According to a junior HL member in Manenberg. “It is a culture in the gangs that you must go and show your respect – keep the contact and show the guy that you’re supporting [him].” The primary purpose of these visits would seem to be to bring money and contraband to the inmates. It would appear that gang leaders can still order hits from inside, which are carried out in anticipation of future payment. At least one focus group respondent argued that imprisoned leaders still called the shots: “If there is a gang fight and the gang leader is in prison – then he give the command to the outside people.” Relations with the Community Media stories, as well as focus group respondents, suggest that the extent to which gangs are supported by their communities varies by gang, areas and time. The recent rallying of Valhalla Park residents to demand the early release of notorious gang boss Colin Stanfield illustrates one side of the spectrum. But in Manenberg, only 14% of respondents from the victim survey said they believed gang members to be respected by the community, and 5% refused to answer the question. Most community members interviewed agreed that it was possible to avoid involvement with the gangs by minding your own business. While gang members needed to be greeted on the street and shown respect, the community members argued that the relationship with gangs was, at least initially, voluntary. Although some community members suggested that gang members may protect them from crime, over half of the respondents from the victim survey said gang members stole from community members exclusively, while 39% said they stole from both the community and outsiders. Although a third of respondents said gang members sometimes helped people with money, 89% said gang members did not protect non-gang members, and 84% said non-gang members would not approach gang members in order to resolve a problem. Gangsters actively cultivate a ‘Robin Hood’ image with the children of the community. Rasheed Staggie is well known for throwing money to the children of Manenberg and from the young ages boys play at being gangsters. Gang leaders also sponsor community youth activities, such as sports teams. According to a community youth in Manenberg, 301

“The gang leaders are like celebs here, because they sponsor soccer teams and now people see it as they are good people…” Role of the State Only 15% of victim survey respondents said they saw a police member in uniform in their area at least once a day, and 15% said they “never” saw the police in their area. More than half of respondents surveyed felt the police were doing a poor job, and many felt this was because they refused to come into the area (24% of mentions) or that they were just lazy (20%). This is different from the apartheid past, when they were seen to be more actively present, patrolling the communities. When asked why they felt the police were doing a poor job, 42% mentioned corruption. There are longstanding beliefs amongst community members that the police, if not the state itself, have been working with the gangsters. Respondents from the community said that they could name specific police members who tipped off gangsters whenever a raid was imminent. In the focus groups, reservists in particular were mentioned as gang informants. Forty-one percent of victim survey respondents said that the police took protection money from gangsters. Focus group participants were vocal about seeing money changing hands. In addition, focus group respondents felt that the police would tip off gangsters whenever a community member filed a complaint against them: eighty-two per cent of victim survey respondents said the police would not be able to protect them if they wanted to be a witness in a murder trial. The police were accused of being actively involved in the drug trade or, if not actively involved, group respondents accused some police officers of extorting money from drug dealers. Illegal and Legal Commerce Activity While drugs seem to be the major source of income, the Cape Flats gangs are involved in a range of other activities, which vary from area to area and by gang. In the HLs, for example, those not assigned to drug sales may find themselves with a lot of time on their hands when there is no gang war pending. Much of the crime they commit is opportunistic, but occasionally a junior member will plot a more involved caper. If he does so, he can count on the gang to make guns and transport available, as well as providing a host of accomplices and a well-developed fencing network. But the mainstay of gang criminal commerce is the drug trade. Drugs seem to be a defining characteristic of community life, and according to the victim survey, 35% of respondents could name a drug addict in their community. Mandrax has been one of the primary commodities traded by gang members since the mid-1980s, and its dis-inhibitive effects have been associated with violence. One of the unintended positive side effects of apartheid was that the main hard drugs abused internationally (cocaine, heroin, and amphetamine-type substances) were kept out of South Africa. After 1994, for reasons discussed elsewhere,17 these drugs began to flood into the country. Crack has become a major drug of trade for the gangs, 17

Leggett, T (2001), “Rainbow Vice: The drugs and sex industries in the new South Africa”. London: Zed Books and Cape Town: David Phillip.

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particularly related to the prostitution trade. The Hard Livings have cells assigned to Seapoint in the heart of Cape Town, where prostitution and drug sales are very lucrative. Armed Confrontations Armed violence is a fact of everyday life in the Cape Flats. Nearly half the boys surveyed in the Manenberg school survey said they had held a loaded gun, compared to 28% of the girls. Not surprisingly, then, 32% of the boys said they knew where to buy an illegal gun, compared to 22% of the girls. While 17% of the boys said they had carried a gun to protect themselves in the past, only two of the girls said they had done so. But six of the girls said they had brought some (unspecified) weapon to school for protection. Eighty-two per cent said they had seen someone stabbed, 86% of the boys and 80% of the girls. Two-thirds had seen someone shot: 71% of the boys and 63% of the girls. This figure went up to a remarkable 79% among 18 year-old males. Just under half of the children reported seeing another human being killed: 51% of the boys and 45% of the girls – 62% of the 18 year-olds claimed to have had this experience. Among the gangsters, violence was even more exaggerated, and nearly all of those interviewed had been shot and had shot other people. The reasons for this violence vary from area to area. In Manenberg, gang members reported major conflicts breaking out over trivial incidents related to offended honour and territory, such as fights over women or retribution for the robbery of a gang member. In Elsie’s River, most of the violence reported revolved around the drug trade, but instances of extreme violence being used to resolve petty slights were also cited. Most of the violence seems to be between rival gangs. Direct armed confrontations with the police are less common, but they do occur. “The police come […] and they have got weapons and we know we can’t get away – then we will shoot our way out of the situation and we don’t care whether we kill the cops or not,” said a junior HL gang member in Manenburg. The availability of firearms means that juvenile feuds quickly become lethal. The need for protection and a desire to have access to firearms drives many into gang membership. As a junior HL gang member in Manenburg recounted, “We were 14 years old then. […] We threw stones at them and they shot at us. So I decided to get a gun too and shoot back as well. You shoot at me and therefore I will shoot back at you.” Thus, gangsterism may be as much a response to local violence levels as it is a cause. While there was great concern about the disposal of military-type weapons used during the struggle for democracy, as well as the influx of these arms from Mozambique, most of the small arms used by gang members are the traditional semi-automatic pistols used by criminals in the developed world. Firearms as a cause of death have increased their importance dramatically in recent years. Among coloured young men, homicide is the leading cause of non-natural death, and firearms have recently surpassed knives as the leading instrument of coloured homicide.18

18

Causes of coloured homicide in JDS Thomson, (2004), “A murderous legacy: Coloured homicide trends in South Africa”, SA Crime Quarterly 7, pp 9-14.

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Child and Youth Involvement According to the victim survey, formal gang membership is believed to start around the onset of adolescence. While 28% said the youngest gang member they knew was under 12 years old, 87% said the youngest was under 14. This was confirmed by oneon-one interviews with gang members, as all started between the ages of 13 and 15, the bulk at 13. There is consensus that the age of gang involvement has decreased. “Today you get the gangsters – they are all children from 12 up to 14. In my time […] if you want to be a gangster you must start from 20 years old,” said an elder community member in Manenberg. All gang members interviewed confirmed that they were armed immediately upon entering the gang. Junior members are expected to form the front lines in any confrontation, as they must prove their worth to their seniors, who stand behind. It would appear that no jobs are prohibited for young people, and that any youngster showing talent for an aspect of gang work would be allowed to apply these skills for the benefit of the gang. But unlike other areas of the world, gang members can remain affiliated and active until their 40s and 50s. It is difficult to estimate the ratio between child members and adult members, in part because the concept of gang membership remains fluid. Special Focus: Alcohol Alcohol is often cited as a main cause of the dysfunctional families that fuel gangsterism. No piece discussing the causes of violence in the coloured communities of the Western Cape would be complete without some mention of the alcohol problem. Due to their presence in the country’s wine growing areas, many coloured people have historically worked in the vineyards. As a result of the so-called ‘dop system’, in which labourers were paid part of their wages in wine, alcoholism is rife in certain parts of the community. The dop system keeps labour submissive and dependent, and has had the side effect of promoting violence, dysfunctional families, and foetal alcohol syndrome. A 1998 study19 found that 55% of all non-natural deaths in Cape Town had blood alcohol concentrations equal to or greater than .08g/100ml, with the highest levels among homicide victims and transportation deaths. The Western Cape has one of the highest incidences of foetal alcohol syndrome in the world. Individuals with foetal alcohol syndrome may become involved in crime as victims or perpetrators due to poor judgement and a low frustration threshold. A study in British Columbia found that 24% of youth in jail showed evidence of foetal alcohol syndrome or foetal alcohol effects.20 A 1997 study in Wellington in Boland found that nearly one out of every 20 coloured school children (4.8%) showed signs of foetal alcohol syndrome.21

19

C Parry, Alcohol and crime in the Western Cape: A provincial action plan, Crime and Conflict No 17, 1999. N Williams, Foetal alcohol syndrome – what is it and what are the possible implications? Paper presented at the Best Practice Interventions in Corrections for Indigenous People Conference, Adelaide, 15 October 1999. 21 JM Te Water Naude, K Charlton, R Sayed, M Dausab, C Marco, K Rendall-Mkosi, and L London, The Dopstop Association – Promoting health on farms, Health Promotion Update, Issue No 53, July 2000. 20

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II. COAV PROFILES Personal Histories When questioning gang members about their personal histories before joining the gangs, it emerged that there is no simple, linear relationship between most social indicators and gang membership (Table 1). Gang members interviewed come from varying family and economic backgrounds. Gang members experience essentially the same levels of deprivation as their non-gang peers. The choice to become a gang member would appear to be an individual one, made in a context where gangsterism provides a relatively attractive way of filling time. Table 1: Answers to suggested background variables

Rodney Bekkies Himmie Age Age joined Gang Local? Parents alive? Siblings Lives w/likes family? Highest grade Currently in school Relative family income Employment

Chris

Boobie

Millie Tante

Faroes

20

20

17

18

24

29

27

?

14

13

13

15

12

13

14

11?

Yes Yes —

No Yes 7

Yes Yes 0

Yes No 5

Yes Yes 6

Yes Yes ——

Yes Yes ——

Yes Yes 2

No/Yes Yes/Yes Yes/Yes Uncle/Yes No/No Yes/Yes Yes/Yes No/ No 6

8

8

9

9

——

——

9

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

Good

Poor

Good

Poor

Average ——

——

——

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

No

——

——

No

The previous estimate suggests that as many as one out of three boys in Manenburg may become involved in gangs, taking gang membership out of the category of a deviant behaviour in this context. Vulnerability to gang participation may be linked to factors affecting the entire coloured community in the Cape Flats, including: dysfunctional families, leading children to spend a lot of time on the streets; population stability, which may fuel the formation of gangs; and a sense of marginalisation and social exclusion. Community members had strong feelings on why Manenberg generates gangsters. I will speak from the coloured point of view – gangsterism can start in a house – I don’t say in all houses. There is no love in the house – ‘There is more comfort, warmth and love outside by my friends than in this house.’ Which perhaps they find – unfortunately – amongst the gangsters. And in most instances those guys will tell you the same story that you are going through in your home. No love. Then the two of them click. They perhaps get started. They are going to look for some more guys that

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has got the same thing going in their life and they come together and they form a gang. ‘We feel nice – we understand one another. We have no feeling for others because nobody has a feeling for us.’ It is a psychological thing. - Elder community member, Manenberg

An additional common factor is clearly housing. Among the gang members interviewed, the average of eight family members in two to three bedrooms represents considerable cramping. Thus, young people find crowded and dysfunctional homes less cordial than the street corners, and on these corners they find other children with similar problems. When children spend more time on the street than in the home, the norms of the street become more important than the norms of the family. Process of Involvement There appear to be enough volunteers wanting to join gangs to avoid the necessity of conscription; the opinions of the young people interviewed in the school survey reflected strong incentives to join gangs. For young men, there are few incentives more powerful than sex, and 86% of school youth polled said girls are attracted to gang members: 88% of the boys and 84% of the girls. This view was reflected in focus groups with community youth. “If they hear you go out with a gangster – you feel cool and they won’t mess with you,” commented a young female from Manenberg. “If you are in a gang you get girls easier,” said another. The gang members themselves did not mention this as a reason for joining a gang. Money is another potent motivator, especially in a community as impoverished as Manenberg where unemployment is high. The coloured community under apartheid was placed over the black community, and was given preference for certain types of jobs while being excluded from others. With democracy all this fell away, and, in the views of many, little came in its place. Continued marginalisation and exclusion from opportunities has been felt even more intensely since democracy has failed to deliver on some its promises. According to Stats SA, unemployment among coloured people has increased 35% from 1995 to 2001.22 In the victim survey, over half of the 16 to 24 year-olds reported being unemployed. Some of the gang members interviewed had had some minor employment, but none of it lasted more than a year and all of it was unskilled or semi-skilled. Whether justified or not, the feeling that the new government’s affirmative action policies exclude coloured people from job opportunities appears to be prevalent. The gang members interviewed tied unemployment to violence. Yet, making decent and consistent pay in a gang may be more illusory than real. Gang members initially referred to gang membership as a job and claimed to be paid R1000 a month (less than US$150) as a salary. More detailed probing revealed that this ‘salary’ was only paid during times when there was specific gang work to be done on a daily basis, such as during a gang conflict. While higher-up gang leaders are notorious for their wealth, ‘footsoldiers’ do not reap the same benefits, particularly if they are not involved in an incomegenerating activity, like drug sales. As one 26 argued, “The operators – it is the big guys that bring in the money.” In spite of this, 79% of school survey respondents said they believe that gang members make a lot of money. 22

Stats SA (2002), “Unemployment in South Africa”. Pretoria: Government Printers

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Some of the gang members interviewed also mentioned the quest for respect as one of the incentives for joining and participating in the gang. Through interviews with gang members, it becomes clear that the bulk of members joined the gang for defensive reasons, including revenge. The proliferation of guns means that would-be fistfights in a less well-armed community become fire-fights in Manenberg. The ‘arms race’ means that most young men feel the need to be armed. Access to these guns was one motivation repeatedly expressed by the gangs members for joining. Thus, the threat of gang violence forces more boys into gangs, which fuels more violence. Gangs also perform the role of surrogate families. While motivations may initially be defensive, the gang does offer hospitality that neglected children may not find anywhere else, including in the home. The desire to belong to a larger group seems especially acute during adolescence, and this desire may have biological roots. Coalition formation is an adolescent behaviour observed in primates, and it has been described as being at the root of much male violence.23 Like many all-male societies, from the Boy Scouts to the military, gangs play on the masculine tendency to develop in-group culture and lore. In addition to being the primary dealers of drugs in the townships, gang members are also the primary consumers.24 So addiction can be a very real factor in drawing members into the group and keeping them there. Aside from physical dependence, the lifestyle itself has an addictive quality, especially in contrast to the aridity of daily life in the Cape Flats: The kids get used to alcohol and drugs and smoking and stuff. In that way they start identifying with the [gang] – so they are not necessarily forced, but … they slowly get involved. […] When there is gang fighting or activity taking place – they want to show that they also want to be part of the action. - Senior 26 American, Elsie’s River

Simple hunger can bring young people to the yards of gang leaders, who stand as oases of affluence in a desert of deprivation. …Their parents can’t afford to provide for them. So if they go to the yard of the gang leader […] they get provided for. They can ride in nice cars and so on. In that way they are satisfied and they can support their family with some income if they want to, but mostly for themselves. - Senior 26 American, Elsie’s River

The process of initiation seems to differ between gangs. The Manenberg HLs interviewed described a rather informal admissions process, during which potential members were questioned by higher-ups about whether they would betray the gang. Once accepted, the member was armed immediately, and expected to prove himself fighting at the front lines. The looseness of this process may be due to the need for new members in the HLs. The 26 Americans in Elsie’s River seem to have an extended period of observation and mentorship before full membership is granted, according to senior members: “First you must be a soldier. First you must learn the rules from the Americans. You mustn’t talk out. You mustn’t speak with other people. If you speak then you must speak in his language.” 23

Wrangham, R and D Peterson (1997), “Demonic males: Apes and the origins of human violence”. London: Bloomsbury. 24 Standing, A (2003), “The social contradictions of organised crime on the Cape Flats”. ISS Paper No 74. Pretoria: ISS.

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When a gang member receives a ‘chappie’, deployment may be immediate: Once you have your mark you must carry out the instructions of the camp – of the group outside and the orders of the group – and if you don’t participate then you can be punished for your non-participation.

Current Involvement While Manenberg HLs interviewed all described themselves as ‘soldiers’ or ‘hit men’ (laksman), their greatest challenge seemed to be making ends meet and avoiding boredom. The youngest of the members interviewed, Himmie, was responsible for selling cannabis, but the others appeared to be part of a general pool of soldiers presently unneeded. They were left to their own devices. If they were industrious enough to set up a criminal activity of some sort, they would be equipped by the gang with guns, cars, and accomplices. Otherwise they remained idle and did not receive a monthly payment. When asked how they got by, they answered: “we go to other areas and burgle there,” or “we might do a small paint job somewhere”, or “or clean someone’s yard”. They were expected to be on-call to defend the turf or the honour of the gang, attend the weekly meetings, and perform the Sunday visits to the prisons. Failure to abide by the rules and directives of the gang would result in discipline, usually physical, such as being publicly beaten at the weekly meeting. The Elsie’s River 26s, on the other hand, seemed fully engaged in the drug trade, about which they were not eager to talk. Armed Violence The young men all explained that they were armed immediately upon joining the gang, and their narratives suggest that a major motivation for joining was to have firearms. For most of them, this meant they began shooting at, and being shot at by, other people around the age of 13, sometimes even before they were formally admitted to the gang. In response to the question “how old do you have to be before […] they can trust you with a gun?”, one gang members said, “everybody starts – doesn’t matter what the age is”. The degree of firearms training seems to vary quite a bit between groups and between individuals. One of the Manenberg interview subjects claimed to have trained another one, while others said they received no training. They said they read library books to learn more about the guns they had been issued. The 26 Americans, though, claimed to have been formally trained shooting at mannequins. For the Manenberg HLs, the guns were the property of the gang, on loan to the members for use in gang activities and other crime. They had to be signed for, and loss of a weapon had harsh consequences. The central stash of firearms was shifted from safe house to safe house to avoid detection by the police. Asking about favourite guns elicits a flood of knowledgeable chatter. Semi-automatic 9mm and .44 calibre pistols are preferred, with extended magazines (‘16 shooters’). Glocks were mentioned as a glamour gun. While the members claimed that fully automatic weapons were available, they were not preferred because of their bulk and because they cannot be easily concealed. Female gang members confine themselves to stabbing one another, as Faroes, who was trained in firearms use by her boyfriend, explained:

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Yes, we only carry knives […] Because a girl is not supposed to wear a gun … I know how to use a gun, but I don’t have a heart to kill somebody … Because I was learned that as well, you never try to kill a person, you always try to avoid to kill a person.

Getting shot All but one of the gang members interviewed had been shot at least once, some multiple times. When asked about these experiences, shirts get pulled up and stories roll. One focus group member had been shot in the head and presently suffers from difficulties speaking and walking. Rodney had lost his employment as a roofer after nearly a year on the job when he was shot by rival Americans through his abdomen. Bekkies was shot in the abdomen. Himmie has been shot twice in his 17 years: once in his abdomen and once in the finger. Chris has only been grazed once, but then he has been active in gun violence for the shortest period of time. Boobie, at 24, has been shot three times, in the abdomen, in the shin, and someplace else. Faroes has been shot twice, stabbed, gang raped to the point of causing internal damage, hit on the head with a pipe, and beaten on multiple occasions. Millie has also been shot, leaving only Tante, probably the most violent of the gangsters interviewed, as the only one untouched. This may be due in part to the fact that he has spent seven of his 26 years in prison. Shooting others The youngest members are expected to prove themselves on the “field of battle”, as the gangsters describe it. Respect can only be gained through the taking of blood, which often starts at a very young age. “I was 13 when I shot my first man – he was innocent,” recounted a junior HL member in Manenberg. “He was on his way to report to the enemy – so I shot him. He was fat.” Bekkies joined the HLs at the age of 13 to avenge the death of his brother. The two men who killed his brother were jailed, but he managed to shoot and kill one of their brothers. Now he says he shoots for the legs in a gunfight, attempting only to wound or cripple rival gangsters. If told to kill by a senior gangster, he says he will question the reasons why the victim must die. He says senior gang members often finish off the wounded left by the kids in the front lines. Tante recalled graphically the many deaths he has caused, including killing four 28s in the last gang war in the area. Going to prison All gangsters interviewed had been to prison, except one, and many had been multiple times. Charges ranged from murder, shooting someone, armed robbery, theft, public drunkenness or possession of cannabis. Tante related the most shocking case: he served seven years of a 10-year sentence for attempted murder, armed robbery, possession of an unlicensed gun, and possession of ammunition. He is currently being charged for cutting out the eye of another man who had allegedly stolen his cellphone. Table 2 below summarises the number of times the gang members have been arrested and the number of times they have been shot.

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Lord of the Flies There was widespread consensus that the younger gangsters were more violent than their elders, and that over the years gang involvement had become an increasingly violent activity. As one senior 26 American gang member from Elsie’s River puts it, “Today the young kids overpower the old gangsters.” Many respondents blame this on the media and popular culture. The proliferation of real guns is also blamed for the increasing violence. A senior 26 American from Elsie’s River said, “People used to use knives. In the old days they only used pangas [large knife]. The violence changed, because the technology changed…” Table 2: Times shot and times jailed

Rodney Bekkies Himmie Chris Boobie Millie Tante Faroes

Number of times shot

Number of times jailed

1 1 2 1 3 1 0 2

4 2 4 4 7 1 1 0

Many community members and even the older gang members themselves suggested that the decline of corporal punishment was behind this outbreak: Children have rights now and the kids are using their rights in the wrong sense – in the sense that they say to their parents that they can’t hit them and so on. So the parents are helpless in the situation to really resolve the issues, because of the conditions within the family and in society. - Senior 26 American, Elsie’s River

While many advocated a return to corporal punishment, it would seem that their real concern is the loss of respect, community cohesion, and cultural norms they see as an imposition of Western norms by the new black government. In this period of cultural ‘structural adjustment’, nostalgia for a past that probably never existed runs strong. Future Perspectives Once in a gang, it can be extremely difficult to get out. The Manenberg Hard Livings interviewed said members could leave voluntarily so long as they did not join another gang. Those who wanted to work regular jobs but did not renounce gang membership would be expected to share their wealth with their gang brothers, however. A senior Elsie’s River 26 Americans gang member had a different view, “You can never leave. If you leave you die. That is the dead end.” This position may be linked to 310

their affiliation with numbers gang membership, which is seen as a permanent alignment. The 26s explained that members who wanted to work jobs could do so but that they would be required to pay ‘protection money’ to the gang. Failure to do so leaves the working member vulnerable to a revenge killing by rival gangs. The process of tattooing also locks members in for life. The purpose of the ‘chappies’ is to indelibly mark the individual as a gang member and as a member of a specific faction. Community members are very familiar with gang tattoos, and it can be difficult to get a job or maintain any semblance of a mainstream life once marked as a gang member. The joys of gang membership have declined, according to some, and many of the gang members expressed an interest in moving on. Three out of the eight gangsters interviewed said they did not want to, or could not, leave the gang, but the other five said they would leave if they could find a good job. According to the gangsters, employment is the answer – it does not appear that many of them are making much money at gang work. As Boobie observed, “Being a gangster is not a benefit anymore.” Expectations are not high – most were looking for trade-level jobs at the most. With their highest ‘salary’ at R1000 a month, it should not be difficult to provide attractive alternatives. However, neither of the 26 Americans expressed an interest in leaving, which may be due in part to their prison gang etho. All those who wanted to leave associated this with a move from the area. Since remaining in gang territory would leave them exposed to extortion of protection money and/ or retaliatory violence from rival gang members, a programme of resettlement associated with job opportunities could go a long way. Since in Manenberg money is not currently much of an incentive for staying involved, most of the HLs would probably opt for any alternative productive or entertaining activity. As one community member suggested, “If they had TV games, they would stay inside.” This suggestion is not as ridiculous as it sounds, as indolence on the street corners is tied by everyone to the genesis of gangs. Many have also argued the effectiveness of sports and cultural alternatives to gangsterism. As Faroes suggests: …Damn, I don’t want to brag or anything, but you must hear me sing and perform, then you will see there’s talent in Manenberg. Those gangsters they know how to dance, they can play soccer, they’re good soccer stars, they can do anything, they can sing, they can dance.

Older ex-gangsters said getting married and settling down was the answer: “We are getting old. […] We all got married. Because of our commitment, we left it.” But while allowing old members to move on is one matter, reducing gang uptake is another. Making the gangs a less attractive alternative is about changing deep social conditions. Part of this drive must be about addressing the issues of drugs and alcohol in the community, which are seen as tied to the loss of norms and respect. According to an elder community member in Manenberg, “It is different now. They don’t respect you. Because of the need to smoke – that is their respect – the drugs have changed that. The drugs have changed their attitude.” Although there appears to be little hope that drugs can be removed from the community, targeted treatment and rehabilitation, as well as prevention work in the schools, could pay dividends in violence prevention.

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With regard to other forms of social crime prevention, one way to ensure a decline in the power of gangs is to provide safety nets other than those used by gang members to lure new members in. As one elder community member from Manenburg suggested: “Then Friday – we get a R3 bread – that is the cheapest. So that help us not to go to the gangsters to ask them. The little houses shops are supplying us with food.” Thus, efforts to make communities more socially and economically sound could make them more resilient to shocks and better able to collectively resist the temptations of gangsterism. III. SOCIAL PROGRAMMES TARGETING COAV South African Public Policy South Africa has no national policy on gang or youth violence issues. It does have a National Crime Prevention Strategy (NCPS), issued in 1996. This policy document prioritises “violence associated with inter-group conflict”, but quite pointedly does not make reference to gang issues. It also prioritises “gender violence and crimes against children”, but the focus of this priority is clearly domestic and sexual crimes. In any case, the continued relevance of the NCPS today is questionable. Though the present government continues to cite the NCPS as though it is active policy, there has been a change in political administrations since the time it was issued, and a consequent shift to a more law enforcement-based approach to the national crime problem. Many of the recommendations of the NCPS (and the subsequent White Paper on Safety and Security of 1998) have never been given much attention, and after the 1999 elections the body that created the strategy was dramatically downsized and sidelined. On the youth side, a National Youth Commission was established in 1996 and tasked with creating a National Youth Policy. The outputs of this agency have been minimal, however, and the National Youth Policy has not yet been produced, so it is unclear whether youth participation in organised armed violence will be discussed. An innovative Child Justice Bill is set to be passed by Parliament in the near future, and this document probably represents most fairly the government’s work in tackling this issue. This bill, which has been in development for many years, makes provision for diversion for youthful offenders, among other things. Since the legislation has not yet been passed, however, the impact of this law on youth violence remains to be seen. As a result of this policy vacuum, the burden of dealing with the issue of gangs and youth violence has been shifted to civil society. Good Practice Case Studies Case study 1: National Peace Accord Trust ‘Ecotherapy’ ‘Ecotherapy’ facilitation was originally designed to promote the psycho-social healing of former combatants in the struggle for democracy. This work is rooted in mental health methodologies rather than criminal rehabilitation. It is superficially similar to other wilderness-encounter programmes found in South Africa (such as Don Pinnock’s rites of passage work) and elsewhere, but contrary to many of these efforts, it uses the outdoors primarily as a setting for reflection, rather than as an obstacle course. 312

The outdoors offers a dramatic change in setting for urban-based youth, which could provide an opportunity for thinking outside the box, and for de-contextualised analysis of the self. It is not considered a complete intervention in itself, but rather provides an opening for other, more sustained, forms of therapy and assistance to take root. It is seen as applicable to both perpetrators of violence and their victims. Groups are sometimes comprised of both well-adjusted and troubled youth. The ecotherapy trails have undergone several academic evaluations, most pointedly a study that relocated 125 former participants and came to the following findings: participation in crime decreased from 83% of subjects before the trail to 19% at the time of the study; overall, substance abuse decreased from 65% to 22%; symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder decreased from 97% of subjects to 30%; the number of subjects in permanent committed relationships increased from 49% to 70%; while none of the participants were employed at the time of the trail, 72% had found part-time, full-time, or self-employment.25 Case study 2: Khulisa peer drug education and M.I.B. programme Khulisa is an independent non-governmental organisation aimed at the rehabilitation of youthful offenders. They offer a range of services and programmes, but only their Offender Drug Peer Counselling (ODPC) and Make it Better (MIB) programmes have been formally evaluated. ODPC attempts to get young inmates off drugs, in hopes that this will reduce involvement in violence both inside and outside of prison. MIB promotes leadership/self-esteem building and was piloted in the coloured gang area of Westbury. ODPC Khulisa ODPC aims to lay the groundwork for permanent rehabilitation facilities in prison, by ‘training trainers’ to be peer drug educators. Between April and December 2002, 18 youth inmates graduated as Drug Peer Counsellors. More than half of the medium security, section B juvenile inmates at Polesmoor prison are apparently involved in the programme, which includes drug life skills (such as coping with drug-associated relationships, making amends for past wrongs, and so forth), drama presentations, peer counselling, and support groups. A total of 471 youth attended at least one of 260 support group sessions offered by the peer educators. The peer educators also provided drug awareness presentations to over 900 school children that visited the prison on field trips. Of the combined peer educator and trainee group, 71% felt that it is possible to change drug use in prison, and 89% felt the support groups contributed to the lives of inmates in a positive way. MIB Westbury In July 2003, the Westbury MIB programme began training 19 peer educators – eight completed this training. Remaining educators felt this high drop out rate was due, among other things, to the fact that the work did not advance participants’ financial interests. The training consisted of a leadership camp, morality development, public speaking, training 25

See http://www.irct.org/usr/irct/home.nsf/unid/JREW-5MSCSL?Open

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in peer drug counselling, drama therapy, conflict resolution, indigenous games, drumming, restorative justice, and facilitation skills instruction. In terms of outputs, the programme claims to have reached 3,000 people, though exactly how is unclear. The peer educators have worked in at least two primary schools, even standing in for teachers who were absent, despite the fact that some members have not finished high school. In both schools, their work was warmly regarded. Recommendations Recommendations for decreasing child and youth involvement in organised armed violence in the Cape Flats are discussed in this section, including individually focused interventions and interventions to change social conditions that foment the problem. Focus on prevention • Implement early intervention programmes for at-risk youth involving educational efforts, sports programmes, social work interventions, and even nutrition schemes. • Increase student retention and routing to vocational opportunities through national education policies. • Support the creation of jobs, which allow passage into responsible adulthood, through national fiscal policies. • Increase the effectiveness of law enforcement authorities in incapacitating individual offenders and disrupting markets that fuel violent conflict. • Support conflict mediation at the community level to address causes of violence and ongoing feuds. When prevention efforts fail, interventions in the criminal justice system are needed: • Treat child offenders differently from adults; • Divert youth involved in criminal activity to non-custodial or treatment programmes to avoid the criminalising effect that exposure to the correctional system can have. Change social conditions that are related to COAV It seems the primary problem with most interventions is that they deal with the symptoms, rather than the causes, of violence; they focus on individuals, rather than circumstances under which they operate. This study has confirmed that a number of social factors that aggravate child and youth involvement in organised armed violence can be addressed in the short to medium term. 1) Inadequate housing (cramped and decrepit buildings located far from the city centre) restricts access to job opportunities and things to do while unemployed. • Speed up land redistribution and provision of housing by giving priority to areas where crime levels are highest, and promote new ownership of well-located but under-utilised inner-city space through legal seizures; • Set up resettlement programs, associated with job opportunities, to scatter gang combatants and allow them to start a new life outside the gang. 314

2) Unemployment not only limits people’s purchasing power but, particularly with youngsters, leaves them with too much spare time that may be filled by gang activities. • Address unemployment as two distinct problems: not having any money, and not having anything to do when you wake up in the morning; • Remove the incentive to drop out of school by providing free education; provide affordable tertiary and vocational training as an alternative to robbery, burglary, and drug dealing; • Send a clear message to coloured populations that previously disadvantaged minority groups will be treated on a par with members of the majority that holds power. 3) The proliferation of guns and alcohol aggravates violence. · Restrict the right to carry guns in violence-prone areas in order to avoid some street shootings; for example, the Minister of Safety and Security could declare certain premises a Firearms Free Zone, under the Firearms Control Act; · Enforce the controlled sale and consumption of alcohol, including judicious zoning of licensed outlets, to reduce consumption. The above represent just a few possible interventions that could impact on the social conditions feeding violence in the Cape Flats. These ideas are clearly in need of greater elaboration and research. But the central point remains: it is possible to address the conditions that feed community conflict without waiting for utopian social transformation. Focusing instead on doctoring each damaged soul is a noble effort, but one that is unlikely to have lasting impact on the enduring problems.

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INSTITUTIONALISED GANGS AND VIOLENCE IN CHICAGO John M. Hagedorn, University of Illinois-Chicago, Great Cities Institute This report focuses on institutionalised street gangs in Chicago that have been present in poor Black and Hispanic urban communities for over fifty years. The report is divided into three parts. Part One gives a contextualised summary of these groups. Part Two takes a closer look at the human face of this phenomenon, with profiles of individuals involved. Part Three examines possible solutions to the problem, with an evaluation of relevant social programmes and policies. A fulllength version of the report summarised in this chapter can be found at www.coav.org.br. Methodology This study on adolescent and youth involvement in organised armed violence in Chicago includes qualitative interviews with young people in several city neighbourhoods with the highest rates of violence: Lawndale, Garfield Park, Humboldt Park, Roseland, Robert Taylor Homes Housing Project, Logan Square, and the Back of the Yards. Fourteen interviews were conducted with young adults between the ages of 18 and 35 who were involved with armed violence as adolescents and had joined gangs between the ages of 11 and 15. Five respondents were Mexican-Americans, one was Puerto Rican, and eight were African Americans; of these two were female and 11 male. None of the interviewees had finished high school, although ten had achieved their high school equivalency diploma. Other source material used in this report includes interviews conducted for two other studies1 and transcripts of interviews with 200 Milwaukee gang members from 1986 to 1992, which were used for comparative purposes. In addition, interviews and primary source material on Chicago gangs were analysed from a study of the history of gangs in Chicago published on www.gangresearch.net, the researcher’s website and historical archive. Informal interviews with staff of Operation Ceasefire and Street Level Youth Media were conducted for the final section of this report. I. CONTEXTUALISED SUMMARY OF COAV Area of Study Profile Chicago has a population of nearly three million and was the US’s manufacturing centre for steel, machine tools, and meat packing throughout the 20th century. After attracting millions of Eastern European immigrants in the early 20th century, Chicago became a beacon for African American migrants and Mexican immigrants who streamed into the city to work in manufacturing jobs. Chicago has always been a city deeply divided by race. Areas with a concentration of black residents are the areas of highest poverty, both in Chicago and the Midwest region. According to the US 2000 Census, about one in four African Americans in the Midwest — which includes former manufacturing centres Chicago, Detroit, and Milwaukee — live in poverty. 1

“Violence, Gangs, and the re-division of space in Chicago.” Proposal by author to the Harry F. Guggenheim Foundation, 2001.

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Housing projects were constructed in the 1960s to provide housing for an expanding black population.2 Chicago housing projects, from their beginnings, were 98% black.3 In the 1990s, gentrification made the land where the projects were built more valuable; the projects are currently being torn down, resulting in displacement of residents to outlying areas, such as the neighbourhood of Roseland.4 Violence in Chicago is concentrated in African American neighbourhoods with high poverty rates, including the West Side neighbourhoods of Lawndale and Garfield Park and the South Side’s Englewood, Grand Avenue (where housing projects predominated), and Roseland. North Lawndale had a population of 120,000 in 1970 and has since lost more than two-thirds of its residents. The area is now a devastated zone of vacant lots with a 99% black population and more than half of children there live in poverty.5 In 2000 its homicide rate was about 60 per 100,000 residents. Roseland once housed black steelworkers. As the housing projects near the city’s centre were closed, many very poor public housing residents moved south to the neighbourhood. The homicide rate in 2000 was 34 per 100,000. In the 1980s alone, more than 10,000 people left the area of Englewood, which now has a household income about half the Chicago average and is more than 95% African American. Its homicide rate in 2000 was 60 per 100,000. After World War II, both Mexicans and Puerto Ricans immigrated to Chicago neighbourhoods that extended from just south of the downtown ‘Loop’ to the city’s western boundaries.6 Mexicans displaced white ethnic groups in neighbourhoods like the Back of the Yards and Pilsen, and Puerto Ricans concentrated in the communities of Lincoln Park and Humboldt Park. These neighbourhoods have levels of violence higher than predominately white areas but lower than in the black ghetto. Brief Historical Analysis of the Situation Gangs have long been a fact of life in most US cities. Beginning in the 19th century, youth gangs formed from second generation immigrant youths. Gang kids fought, but firearms were seldom used and it was mainly young adults who committed lethal violence.7 Black and Mexican youths formed small corner groups and often defended their neighbourhoods against white gangs.8 Economic opportunities in government and in the market sector for most white youth resulted in the dissolving of their adolescent gangs 2

Venkatesh, Sudhit Alladi. 2000. American Project: The Rise and Fall of a Modern Ghetto. Harvard University Press. 3 Hirsch, Arnold R. 1983. Making the Second Ghetto: Race & Housing in Chicago 1940-1960. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 4 “Building a Way to Stop Murder”, Op Ed by John Hagedorn, published in Chicago Tribune (1 June, 2003). Available online at: http://gangresearch.net/Globalization/guggenheim/housing/tribhousmur.html 5 2000 US Census 6 For a map of changing ethnicity in Chicago, see http://www.gangresearch.net/Globalization/guggenheim/ images/animsidelegend.gif 7 Bogardus, Emory. 1926. The City Boy and his Problems. House of Ralston: Rotary Club of Los Angeles and Thrasher, Frederic. 1927. The Gang, 1927 ed. University of Chicago. 8 Thrasher, ibid.

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or their re-direction once members found jobs as adults. However, some delinquent Italian youth graduated into the Mafia and some Chinese youth found illicit adult opportunities in tongs and Triads. On the other hand, Mexican and African American youths had a bleaker future, with both licit and illicit opportunity structures blocked.9 The 1960s ended with a ‘war on crime’ that moved the leadership of the gangs, who by that time were mostly black and Hispanic, from the streets to the prisons. Gangs in cities like Chicago maintained their organisations while in prison, where they established lines of communication with their neighbourhood branches and began calling themselves ‘street organisations,’ underscoring their role in the community.10 The decline of the US industrial economy after WWII began to devastate black communities across the US.11 Particularly in industrial cities like Detroit and Gary, Indiana, with heavy concentrations of African American workers, homicide rates skyrocketed as jobs disappeared and concentrated poverty increased. The gangs in large cities began to deal in narcotics and other underground economic activities, sometimes displacing Mafia-run enterprises.12 Eventually, as suppliers found new markets in black and Hispanic communities for cocaine, gangs seized the opportunity to make money and used their armed might to settle disputes and carve out or dominate drug markets.13 In US poor minority communities, as in the Third World, the informal economy, including the profitable trade in drugs, became a permanent part of the economic and social landscape.14 Trends of violence in the US since the 1960s Urban violence in the United States varies widely by cities and over time. Cities like New Orleans, Washington D.C., and Detroit are among the most violent cities in the world with homicide rates at similar levels to Rio de Janeiro. Blue-collar cities like Gary, Indiana, St. Louis, Missouri, and Detroit and Flint, Michigan saw unprecedented leaps in homicide rates during the period of industrial decline. In the early 1990s nearly every large city in the US followed suit with major jumps in homicide related to the crack ‘wars’, as gangs and other drug organisations fought fierce battles over control of the profitable market for cocaine.15 However, all major US cities have since seen homicide rates drop. But in New York, Boston and many other ‘new economy’ US cities they have dropped to historic lows. Chicago’s homicide rate, however, has seen little change over the past decade. These trends can be seen in the following table: 9 Russo, Gus. 2001. The Outfit: The Role of Chicago’s Underworld in the Shaping of Modern America. Bloomsbury. and Hirsch, Arnold R.: 1983, Op. cit. 10 Jacobs, James. 1977. Stateville. University of Chicago. 11 Wilson, William J. 1987. The Truly Disadvantaged. University of Chicago. 12 Fry, John R.. 1973. Locked-Out Americans: A Memoir. Harper & Row; Ianni, Francis. 1975. Black Mafia. Simon & Schuster. 13 Davis, Mike. 1990. City of Quartz. Vintage, Padilla, Felix. 1992. The Gang as an American Enterprise. Rutgers University Press; Venkatesh, Sudhir Alladi. 1997. “The Social Organization of Street Gang Activity in an Urban Ghetto” American Journal of Sociology 103(1):82-111. 14 Hagedorn, op.cit. 15 Blumstein, Alfred, and Richard Rosenfeld. 1999. “Explaining Recent Trends in US Homicide Rates.” The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 88(4).

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Homicide rates in six US cities between 1985 and 2000

Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reports

The US urban killing spree of the 1990s was an unprecedented epidemic of violence by teenage African American males. While youth crime as a whole remained steady in the 1990s, armed violence by adolescents jumped sharply in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Arrests of 13-17 year olds more than doubled between 1983 and 1993 while homicide by adults 25 and over actually declined.16 Moreover, it was among black youth in US cities that most of the increases in youth homicide occurred. The homicide rate for 13-17 year old black males peaked in 1993 with an almost unbelievable rate of 120 per 100,000. The white male rate was less than 10% of the black rate. Rates of Latino violence, while varying between different nationalities, are intermediate between whites and blacks.17 Data from New York City demonstrates that non-gun homicide rates stayed stable throughout the epidemic and decline, while all of the increase in homicides — and subsequent decrease — could be attributed to youth with guns. The firearm homicide rate for youth aged 15-19 rose 176% from 1985 to 1991 and then dropped even further in the mid to late 1990s.18 Thus, both the rise and fall in homicide rates in US cities were associated largely with black teenagers, guns, gangs, and the drug wars. Gang homicides in the US exceed 2,000 per year,19 with the majority in Chicago, Los Angeles, and other large cities. Many children and adolescents had armed roles within the gangs and members of drug 16

Cook, Philip J., and John H. Laub. 1998. The Unprecedented Epidemic in Youth Violence in Youth Violence, edited by Michael Tonry, and Mark H. Moore. University of Chicago. 17 Martinez Jr. , Ramiro. 2002. Latino Homicide: Immigration, Violence, and community. Routledge. 18 Fagan, Jeff, Franklin E. Zimring, and June Kim. 1999. “Declining Homicides in New York City: A Tale of Two Trends.” The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 88(4). 19 Gang data from official sources is unreliable and has to be treated with caution, since definitions of “gang-involved” vary across jurisdictions and designations of a gang-related homicide are often subjective judgments from individual officers or responsive to political treatment.

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organisations were the main victims and perpetrators of the 1990s epidemic of violence. According to Department of Justice and Uniform Crime Report data, during the crack wars, youth made up around 20% of all victims and offenders of homicide, while before and after the early 1990s, they made up about 10% of all victims and offenders. Today, homicide remains the fourth leading cause of death for all US males aged 10-14 and the second leading cause of death of males 15-19 and 16-24. Firearms, mainly handguns, account for approximately two-thirds of all homicides in Chicago. One major difference between violence in many Third World and US cities is the limited extent of violence perpetrated by the US government and the virtual absence of killings of and by police. In the US, 56 law enforcement officers were killed ‘feloniously’ in 2002. In Chicago, for example, only one policeman was killed in the line of duty in 2002 and two in 2001. On the other hand, Chicago averaged nine official complaints of police excessive force per day in 2002.20 Actors Involved Gangs in the United States today vary widely between and within cities. Overall, the Department of Justice estimates there are approximately 750,000 gang members in the US. There have been many attempts to categorise gangs, but in the context of this study US gangs can be differentiated between ‘interstitial’ and ‘institutionalised’ gangs.21 Gang researcher Frederic Thrasher used the term “interstitial”22 to describe early Chicago gangs. It literally means in between, or the transitions of youth, as from one neighbourhood to a better one and/or from childhood to young adulthood. Most US gangs were, and continue to be, transitional interstitial groups, rising with one set of peers and declining as its peer group matures. But in some cities gangs institutionalised, or persisted over generations, despite leadership changes (e.g. killed, incarcerated, or ‘matured out’). In Chicago, membership in institutionalised gangs runs into the tens of thousands. The four major gangs in Chicago are the Conservative Vice Lord Nation, the Black Gangster Disciple Nation, The Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation, and the Black P Stone Nation. Chicago also has dozens of other multi-neighbourhood gangs including the Satan’s Disciples, the Black Disciples, the 2-6 Nation, the Mickey Cobras, and the Latin Counts. All of Chicago’s major gangs have gone through major changes and adapted to new conditions. The Conservative Vice Lord Nation (CVL) The CVL formed on the streets of Lawndale on Chicago’s West Side in the 1950s. Originally an athletic club, founding members were incarcerated together in the St. Charles juvenile correctional facility. In the 1960s, the CVL had united most of the West Side 20

Chicago Police Department. Annual Report 2002. “While gangs begin as unsupervised adolescent peer groups and most remain so, some institutionalise in barrios, favelas, ghettos, and prisons. Often these gangs become business enterprises within the informal economy and a few are linked to international criminal cartels. Most gangs share a racial or ethnic identity and a mediadiffused oppositional culture. Gangs have variable ties to conventional institutions and, in given conditions, assume social, economic, political, cultural, religious, or military roles.” From “Gangs in Late Modernity”, in John Hagedorn, edited, “Gangs in the Global City.” Champaign. University of Illinois Press. In Press. 22 Thrasher, op. cit. 21

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gangs into a ‘nation’ and became one of the four largest gangs in Chicago, controlling many gambling and drug operations on the West Side. The Conservative Vice Lords got their name in part from a conservative orientation toward their community that included developing legitimate business and numerous social and recreational centres.23 The CVL sought and received funding from private foundations and government.24 The CVL, like other Chicago gangs, included gang members who continued on a criminal path as well as socially conscious members, like 1960s spokesman Bobby Gore.25 Rising rates of violence and the political threat of gang organisation resulted in a ‘war on gangs’ by Chicago’s powerful mayor, Richard J. Daley.26 Gore was arrested and jailed for ten years and the CVL leadership decimated as foundation funds were withdrawn under pressure from Daley.27 The CVL reverted to criminal behaviour as its legitimate enterprises folded. Lengthy prison terms for CVL leaders did not destroy the gang, but hardened leaders who maintained ties to the street chapters.28 By the end of the 1980s, the CVL maintained an umbrella structure, but drug selling was its prime activity and children were recruited into the drug trade. The CVL, like other Chicago gangs, fractured in the late 1990s, and many branches have seen the formation of ‘renegade’ chapters. Organised armed violence is now often between factions of the gang, rather than between different gangs. The Black Gangster Disciples (BGD) The Black Gangster Disciples began as a coalition of neighbourhood gangs in Chicago’s South Side Englewood neighbourhood, long the city’s most violent community area. The BGD were involved with a number of social programmes in the 1960s, but never to the extent of the CVL. The BGD is probably the largest gang in Chicago and has chapters in dozens of cities across the US. The gang’s biggest rival is a split-off, the Black Disciples, and ‘wars’ between the two have erupted sporadically over the last four decades. In the 1960s, the gang developed a citywide structure and became the dominant gang in public housing projects.29 As conditions in the projects deteriorated, the Black Gangster Disciples claimed them as their territory, from which they organised their drug trafficking activities. The projects were ‘defensible space’ for the gangs, who retreated into them when police arrived and used them to shoot at rival gangs. 23

See http://gangresearch.net/ChicagoGangs/vicelords/VLTitle.html Untitled, undated article reprinted courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society. Available on: http:// gangresearch.net/ChicagoGangs/vicelords/Millionaires.html 25 See “Conservative Vice Lords Inc: A Report to the Public 1968 -1969 Image and Text Gallery”, available on: http://www.uic.edu/orgs/kbc/lawndale/slideshow/slide01.html 26 Dawley, David. 1992. A Nation of Lords: The Autobiography of the Vice Lords. Waveland Press.http:// gangresearch.net/ChicagoGangs/blackstonerangers/Daley.html, http://gangresearch.net/ChicagoGangs/ blackstonerangers/Fry/waralafry.html 27 Dawley, ibid. 28 Jacobs, op. cit 29 The largest of these projects were the Robert Taylor Homes, twenty-eight 16 story towers that were from the beginning 99% black 24

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The BGD became the target of federal prosecution as their leader Larry Hoover became more prominent and began to get politically involved.30 In 1992, the gang changed its name from Black Gangster Disciples to Black Growth and Development31 in order to stress a more social role. Federal prosecution helped fracture the BGD. Like other Chicago gangs, ‘renegade’ factions that come into regular conflict with the official gang have developed. As one gang member explained, “Everybody went on their own thing. There ain’t no laws, and there ain’t no rules... it’s like, every man for himself now.” The Black P. Stone Nation The Black P. Stone Nation has gone by many different names in its 50-year history. Originally the Blackstone Rangers, the gang formed from 21 smaller neighbourhood gangs in the late 1950s under the leadership of Jeff Fort and Gene Hairston.32 The Rangers were noted for their violence in combating rival gangs, especially the BGDs, their takeover of South Side rackets, and the political savvy of their leaders. The Rangers were involved with numerous social programmes in the 1960s and were the key elements in the unity discussions of the ‘LSD’ — Lords, Stones, Disciples, — the coalition of gangs allied with the Black Panther Party. The Rangers continued to adapt to changing conditions and re-invented itself as a pseudo-religion. By changing their name to the El Rukns, they fought for the special privileges allowed religions in prison and registered as a taxexempt non-profit organisation. Raids by police continued to jail key leaders. Fort and other El Rukn leaders were placed in maximum-security prisons and effectively cut off from the gang on the street. Currently, the Black P. Stone Nation, the most commonly accepted name for the gang today, is in decline but still has strong bases in several South Side Chicago neighbourhoods. They have youth sections and a black, nationalist tradition that continues to inspire strong loyalty. Many Stone branches also have developed renegade factions. The Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (ALKQN) The Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation was formed in the 1950s as Puerto Ricans migrated to Chicago after World War II. Originally a neighbourhood youth gang, the ALKQN formed multiple neighbourhood branches and emerged as the largest Latino gang in Chicago. The ALKQN were allied with a companion youth gang, the Young Lords, in the 1960s. The Lords transformed themselves into a revolutionary organisation and organised social programmes in alliance with the Black Panther Party.33 The ALKQN and Young Lords 30

Papachristos, Andrew V. 2001. A.D., After the Disciples: The Neighborhood Impact of Federal Gang Prosecution. New Chicago Schools Press, Inc. 31 Emory, Rod. 1996. The Blueprint: From Gangster Disciple to Growth and Development. Morris Publishing; Moore, ibid. 32 “The Almighty Black P. Stone Nation: Black Power, Politics and Gangbanging.” Lecture by Lance Williams. UIC School of Public Health. Transcribed 18 Oct. 2001. Available on: http://gangresearch.net/ ChicagoGangs/blackstonerangers/lance.htm. 33 “The Young Lords and Early Chicago Puerto Rican Gangs” interview with Puerto Rican historian Mervin Menendez on 27 January, 2002. Available on: http://gangresearch.net/ChicagoGangs/latinkings/lkhistory.html

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organised street protests and the take over of a De Paul University cathedral. The ALKQN’s violent rivalries and political ties brought them into conflict with the police and their leadership was incarcerated, while the gang became increasingly involved in the street sale of narcotics.34 The driving force behind the rise of the gang was the gentrification of Lincoln Park, the original home of the gang. The gang has a large, formal organisation with an elected Crown Council and a vertical leadership structure that was headed by Gino Colon. Colon, like Jeff Fort and Larry Hoover, was incarcerated in the last few years in maximum-security facilities and cut off from day to day contact with the organisation. Like the African American gangs, the ALKQN have stayed involved with politics on a local level, trying to influence city politicians through getting out the vote and money. One gang leader told the author “they [city councillors and congressman] come to the Latin Kings when they need this little area. We help out in exchange for jobs.” While gang violence between Latino gangs is highly publicised, it is only about half the rate of violence in black communities. Latino gang violence is more often about colour and retaliation while African American gangs are typically warring over drug turf. The ALKQN has chapters across the US and in several countries. All chapters pledge allegiance to the ‘Motherland,’ Chicago, although ties are more fraternal than hierarchical. Other institutionalised Chicago gangs Chicago’s neighbourhoods are a patchwork of gang rivalries and drug markets. Streets often separate the turf or selling spot of one gang from another. Aside from the major gangs, Chicago has dozens of other multi-neighbourhood, institutionalised gangs with sharply delineated territory. This scenario has been complicated in the last decade by two factors. First is the emergence of renegade factions within gangs. Every gang member interviewed commented on this crisis of control. The second factor is the displacement of gangs by the tearing down of public housing and by gentrification. As members dislocate to another neighbourhood, they come into conflict with the local gang and compete over drug markets. This has caused homicide in Chicago to move westward and southward as blacks and Hispanics are pushed away from the city centre.35 Command Structure Gangs in Chicago and other cities have institutionalised with youths staying in the gang as adults. Institutionalised gangs have an organisation complex enough to sustain multiple roles of members (including children), adapt to changing environments without dissolving (e.g. police repression), fulfill some community needs (economic, security, services), and organise a distinct outlook of its members (sometimes called a gang subculture). At the same time, their organisation varies. Some have adopted a corporate structure, with a Board of Directors and Chairman of the Board, like Chicago’s Black Gangster Dis34 “The Origins of Puerto Rican Gangs in Chicago,” interview with Cha Cha Jimenez in June 2002. Excerpts from the interview available on http://gangresearch.net/ChicagoGangs/younglords/chacha.htm 35 To see a map demonstrating the distribution of homicides within Chicago, see: http://gangresearch.net/ Globalization/guggenheim/images/slideshow/index.htm

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ciples. Others, like White Fence in East Los Angeles, have an informal, horizontal form of organisation.36 Institutionalisation appears to occur given three conditions: • Gangs institutionalise when urban conflict is racial, ethnic, or religious, not solely class-based. Class conflict appears to decline over time in the United States within dominant racial and ethnic groups. Thus white ethnic gangs assimilated into urban power structures. However, African American and Latino gangs institutionalised as outsiders and their ethnic groups were excluded from legitimate power. Gangs typically have a strong racial identity, often with religious, and/or political overtones. • Gangs institutionalise in neighbourhoods where formal controls, services, and economic opportunities are lacking. When the state is unable to maintain control over ghetto spaces, street organisations step in and provide conflict resolution and order. In many neighbourhoods, police involvement was welcomed when gang or drug violence got out of control. At times, however, gangs were granted legitimacy due to police racism and brutality. Second, drug profits allowed gangs to provide area youth with entrylevel jobs in the illicit economy. Third, drug profits allowed gangs to provide services and help residents in economic distress. • Gangs institutionalise in defensible spaces. In Chicago, the black ghetto and high-rise projects provided defensible spaces that allowed gangs to persist. Law enforcement continues to portray Chicago’s institutionalised gangs as tightly organised hierarchical bureaucracies, a sort of criminal version of a police department or army.37 While all Chicago gangs have an ostensible leader, often locked up and attempting to ‘call the shots’ from behind bars, the actual command structure is both more complex and less conspiratorial than law enforcement believes. On the whole, institutionalised gangs appear to have a centralised leadership that is loosely coupled to neighbourhood branches and chapters in other cities. Relations with the Community Institutionalised gangs have strong ties to communities both through relatives who live there and the services they perform. Large numbers of community residents oppose the gangs, while others fear retaliation from gangs should they openly oppose them.38 Gangs also take part in political, civic, and religious activity and have built long term relationships with community leaders. The Latin Kings, like many other gangs, see themselves as not only gangsters, but also benefiting the community. As one gang member says: “And it’s not because I’m willing to die for a gang but because I’m willing to die for the purpose of progress to improve my people’s situation.” 36

Emory, Rod. 1996. The Blueprint: From Gangster Disciple to Growth and Development. Morris Publishing., Moore, ibid. 37 See, for example, a diagram on organisational structure by the Chicago Crime Commission, available on: http://gangresearch.net/ChicagoGangs/earlygangs/gangbur.html 38 Venkatesh, op. cit.

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Role of the State Gang members often see police as necessary, although often corrupt, abusive, and racist. Police are also implicated in gang activity, as one gang member explained: There are so many cops that are still gang banging. They don’t necessary hang out on the corner, but they still help their people out. [Like they] take drugs in a stop [arrest] and take the drugs to their guys.

Chicago gangs have a long political tradition. Both members from black and Latino gangs discussed off microphone payments to police and aldermen for protection. One important development has been the election to office of former gang members in several neighbourhoods. These politicians do favours for their old gang in return for help with election work. A King explained how the ALKQN kept political influence: The legislators need our vote because we make up so much of the community, and let’s face it, we have power. Maybe the community doesn’t like to admit we have power, but the assholes that create the laws know we have control over our people because if we didn’t then they wouldn’t need our help.

Sometimes a politician can’t deliver, as this Disciple explains: “The Kings from 26th Street were doing favors for [a city politician] and he promised that he would get them jobs. Then he dropped out of the race so [the Kings] threw a bomb in his office and tried to kill him.” II. COAV PROFILES Personal Histories In most black, Mexican and Puerto Rican neighbourhoods, the current group of what are often called ‘super-gangs’39 have been a fixture since the late 1950s. Growing up in these very poor neighbourhoods, particularly for males, means confronting an inevitable decision over whether or not to join the area gang: I can remember from ever since I was five years old, they were out there shooting guns and everything… They had the Stones [a rival gang], and then right there where we was just at, they had the Gangsters [the respondent’s gang], you know what I’m saying, people getting killed and everything.

Prior research40 has found that, within areas where gangs dominate, family background is not the most significant variable determining membership. Consistent with other research, this study finds that peer pressure within a poor neighbourhood exercises a powerful effect on youth and whether or not young people join a gang. While the present sample cannot be determined as representative, the respondents in this study come from poor, but not particularly dysfunctional families. About half of the respondents were brought up by both parents. The most common experience of those interviewed was the failure to complete high school. None of the respondents completed high school, although about half later returned to school or received an equivalent diploma. The suspension, expulsion, or 39

‘Super-gangs’ is the term given for institutionalised gangs in Chicago with multiple branches. See Short, J.F., Jr., and Strodtbeck, F.L. 1965. Group Process and Gang Delinquency. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago; Moore (1978); Venkatesh (2000).

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absence of kids from school interacts with gang involvement to push young boys and girls to see the gangs as a substitute family or primary socialising institution. Typically, young people join or hang out with a gang before suspension or expulsion from school. A combination of rebellious behaviour at school, unimaginative and racist teachers, police harassment, gang disputes, and troubled lives interact to separate gang youth from schools. Girls also follow the same pattern of fighting and early exit from school. For girls, the gang experience often coincides with early pregnancy that typically results in dropping out of school. In Milwaukee, a majority of our sample of 73 female gang members had been teen mothers. Process of Involvement There were three ways the Chicago respondents joined their gangs — through family connections, recruitment of a local group to the area’s institutionalised gang, and as a ‘natural thing’ to do. Those interviewed typically joined the gang in their early teen or late preteen years. Institutionalised gangs by definition are long-standing and have deep ties within neighbourhoods. One way the gang reproduces itself is through the ‘brother-system’ of bringing a little brother up into the organisation as he gets older. A member of the Black Gangster Disciples explains how his brother paved the way for his recruitment: “Yeah, he was a Gangster, too, and I was looking at that, too, like my brother’s a Gangster, I might as well be a Gangster, too. You know what I’m saying, keep it all in the family [...]” Another member describes the importance of his brother in his own advancement in the gang: Well, people known my brother was in the gang and then they knew I was in the gang, they was really showing me much love, because he was older then me and he had some rank...He was my brother and at the same time he knew I was trying to do something nice, build my status up so I could be here one day.

While institutionalised gangs exist in most Chicago neighbourhoods, spontaneous groups of teenagers still form. But once formed, as a group they will have to decide with whom to ally. For a ‘neutron’41 gang to not ally or join with a nearby institutionalised gang means no protection and a constant risk of violence. One gang member tells how one such group was recruited by the Satan’s Disciples (SDs): Well, [we] was not involved [with the SDs], it was a crew we had with some kids...It was about 50 of us. I was about 10 years old already at that time, when one of the SD’s just came out of prison...I had just turned 12, and he tells us, ‘Look, if you want to turn SD’s...’ because there was nobody on this block. So, we all agreed to it. Others joined a gang to make money; as one gang member explained: “I got involved because […] a guy influenced me to turn. I was goin’ to school, and […] my mom had a big family, and I couldn’t get the stuff that I needed, and he told me […] to sell drugs and I could take care of myself.” 41

‘Neutron’ is the common term for a neutral person or gang, one who does not take sides in Chicago’s bitterly divided gang culture.

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Female gang members In many ways the following quotation from a young woman who joined the Sisters of the Struggle (SOS), the Black Gangster Disciple’s female branch, demonstrates the inter-relationship of family, finances, and fun. She also describes an element of safety that is an advantage to being in a gang: My whole family had like seven to eight kids, and they was mostly boys […] All the boys [were in the] Gangster Disciples, so, you know...the girls is called SOS, but it’s the same thing. You gotta be in something for somebody else, so I joined the gang...so they don’t really mess with you too much. You couldn’t sell drugs without being from [a gang].

Gang attitudes toward school One common thread running through all the gangs in Chicago is a normative view on the importance of education by older gang members. Most gangs have rules regarding the need to stay in school and pressure is put on younger members to not neglect education. Despite the rules, the lure of money to be made has typically pulled kids from school to the street: “My school starting sliding and all. Man, got to have more now, somehow, so I started serving.42 That’s when I started to miss a lot of school.” Current Involvement Once in the gang, young members have supportive roles to play in their gang’s drug operations, organisation, and violence with rivals. Although Chicago’s institutionalised gangs have a citywide or national organisation, the heart of all of the gangs is the neighbourhood branch, which exercises extensive autonomy. While the formal organisational characteristics of each gang differ, the centrality of the neighbourhood branch is a constant.43 Most gangs are age-divided, with the juniors or ‘shorties’ having their own leadership appointed by older members, sometimes called ‘OGs’, or ‘original gangsters’. Drug selling begins very early for some. One young CVL member interviewed claimed he knew two kids aged eight or nine who ran drug sales. As one Vice Lord explained, roles within the gang, including selling drugs, do not seem to depend on the gang members’ ages: It didn’t depend on your age, it depended on how smart you is. Certain people built for certain stuff. Certain people can’t hold their own drugs apart. Their minds were just not built for that...If you want to work, then you gotta be a look-out on the corner, for the policemen, if that’s what you know how to do. It don’t go by no age, it goes by your knowledge. Most gangs, however, allow very young children to play only supportive roles as look-outs and to hold weapons and drugs for older members. Penalties for drug and gun possession are much less severe for youth. The 14 respondents in this study look at kids today as being wilder than they were when they joined a gang. According to one: Kids now days, I don’t trust them with guns, they know how to shoot the guns, and they got them, too... I saw a little kid, 11 years old, just recently, looked about 25, but he was 11, 12 years old. Just playing with him, a little while, I told him, ‘Where did you get that [gun] from?’ Don’t worry about it, it’s none of my business. Yeah, that’s what he told me, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ 42 43

‘Serving’ is gang slang for selling drugs See gangresearch.net

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Younger kids had a supportive role to play in carrying guns: My job, all the little kids, was to go to school, to the high school with guns already...We was to go and pick them up from school everyday...Bring the guns to school and wait for them [older gang member] to get out...We’d keep them on us, because they was like, you’re still young, we’re going to end up in the county jail, but you’d just go to the juvenile thing... That’s when I got to hold my first gun, when I was 12 years old.

According to interviewees, the BGD has a youth section (for ages 12 to 16) that is run by a coordinator who decides on gun distribution, among other responsibilities. Although gang rules frown on young children with guns, street reality is often different. When asked if gang leaders were reluctant to see kids with guns, one BGD explained, “They think like, shit, you a part of this. If something goes down, you got to ride [have a gun], that’s how it is.” A young BGD describes his access to guns as an adolescent member: “When I was a shorty, I had a .357, I had a .25, a 100 shot tech, a 40 gauge. I had people giving me guns, old timers, I was like 15.” Often female gang members carry and hide weapons for male gang members since they are less likely to be caught and the penalties would be less severe. Interviewed female gang members claimed to know how to use a gun, and some of having shot at others. While violence has tapered off to a degree in Chicago since the drug wars of the early 1990s, for our interviewees things have become worse: “They used to tell the young guys […] to go to school or whatever, you know what I’m saying. It wasn’t all about going to kill nobody or nothing. But now... The young guys, they’re awful.” Armed Violence Children and youth under 18 are involved in armed violence of all types. Violence occurs mainly as a result of drug disputes, but also due to gang rivalries. Older gang members are generally reluctant to put guns in the hands of children and adolescents, who are likely to be perceived as irresponsible or likely to talk to police. However, once they join a gang, children have access to and use guns from an early age. As one older gangster explained: Really, um, you can’t turn the mob unless you like thirteen and up, you know what I’m sayin’? Man, well from 13 and up. Twelve years old, you can’t, you just like...we call it a group gang. So, 13 and up, you’re old [enough] to turn, I mean, man, you’re gonna join a gang, you gonna, man, you gonna grab that pistol.

When asked how old a Mexican SD gang member was when he first shot a gun, he said, “When I was 13. Somebody came into our neighbourhood, I was already a SD. And somebody had come into our neighbourhood trying to shoot at us.” One young man expressed his emotional reaction to firing a gun at around the age of 16: When I first shot a gun, I was like blanked out. My friend had a gun, I never had never shot one. When I first shot a gun I hit a person, blanked out, I starting seeing bodies, bodies coming my way...I was by myself...I got away, but I was like damn, I just killed somebody or I just shot somebody, this and that. I was blanking out. I was like, what should I do, what should I do, should I kill myself?

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The vast majority of the gang’s supply of guns are handguns which are easy to conceal and can be bought cheaply on the street. While stories of powerful weapons abound, most shootings, including those by youth, are with small-calibre automatic pistols. When asked what kinds of guns young gang members have access to, members responded: “Automatics for the shorties, that’s all we had. Revolvers and shit. Automatic revolvers.” All of those interviewed had seen friends killed and most had been shot themselves. This Vice Lord saw his best friend killed the day before being interviewed: “My man got killed yesterday, his name is Big Boy...He got six times in the face. Now I was just talking to him yesterday [...] My grandma told me he got killed. I’m like damn, I just seen him two hours ago.” One of those interviewed had the role of a hit-man for his gang. This was the sole respondent who led a life of constant violence as a youngster. He looks back at his killing days: If you know you killed somebody, man, and you know you really shot that person, man, it’s gonna have an effect. One effect is you got to worry about the police comin’ to get you, and another effect, you really don’t want to kill nobody, but, you know what I’m sayin’, peer pressure, once again, peer pressure come up again. So if you, I mean, man, some people don’t shoot to kill, you know what I’m sayin’, they just shoot to be shootin’.

Reasons for armed violence Money: Gang ‘wars’ are an everyday occurrence in Chicago. While disputes over drug markets are the dominant reasons for homicide by African American gang members, Latino gang members insist that gang rivalries are the cause for most of their lethal violence: “Ours is not for drugs. No way, it’s never for drug turf...Ours is like, this our hood, rivalry.” On the other hand, in housing projects, and black neighbourhoods, there is no question that violence was over money, drugs, and masculinity: So, basically it was over the money, then you want control...Because they was making a lot money off blows44 and we was making money off of coke and we was splitting the weed money. And it wasn’t going to work. Everybody wanted it all. That’s how the wars started off.

Renegades: One further source of violence in Chicago today is the fracturing of gangs and the emergence of renegade gangs who have split off from institutionalised gangs. These gangs do not follow orders from their ‘nation’ or mother gang, are typically ‘all about the money’ and care little for their community. It is too early to tell what the long-term effect of gang fragmentation will be. But in the short term, renegade or ‘outlaw’ gangs seem to increase intra-gang conflict. This gang member explains why some members ‘go renegade’: “[…] That happens though, because niggers, you know what I’m sayin’, get their head pumps up. Nigger don’t wanna honor no violations no more. Nigger don’t wanna pay dues.” Another gang member sees the emergence of renegade gangs and the effectiveness of police in arresting gang leaders as leading to outlaw violence: “They think that they’re so smart, taking all the cheese [gang leaders] off of the street, they just fucked up. You left a group with young wild peoples out here.” 44

In this case “blows” may be used to mean powder cocaine and “coke” to mean crack-cocaine.

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Tearing down the housing projects and gentrification: In the 1990s, the city of Chicago began tearing down the high-rise housing projects it had built a half a century before. While the mayor claimed that tearing down the projects was an attempt to lower crime, the land the projects occupied had coincidentally become prime real estate. Tens of thousands of African American families were displaced and moved to outlying communities. At the same time, Puerto Rican and Mexican areas were becoming gentrified and many Latino families were pushed westward into the suburbs. This re-division of space in Chicago is similar to the changing spaces of gang activity in cities around the world due to gentrification, displacement, and segregation.45 Dislocation from the project often led to disputes over drug markets. About half of the interviews were with gang members who had been displaced by the tearing down of their project, or lived in areas that received gang members from the projects. A Satan’s Discipline from the West Side commented on violence coming as a result of dislocation: “As the projects come down, they gonna start movin’ in...when all the projects get moved down, that’s gonna be a war.” Future Perspectives Most of those interviewed were in their early twenties and while looking ahead, didn’t know how change could occur. Having kids of their own often made these young gang members stop and think: “I be tryin’ to give it up man, ‘cause I got three kids, man [but] I can’t get no job, you know what I’m sayin’...I gotta support my kids. So I gotta sell drugs to try to support ‘em.” Although some were not sure what to do to improve the ‘gang situation’, several of those interviewed thought that the old gang leadership could pull things together if they were back on the street: Because the man [Gangster leader Larry Hoover] was so powerful... all he got to do is put jobs out here. But y’all ain’t doing it. Y’all build the restaurants. Who wants a $5.25 an hour job? You might make in week, what you make on the street, in thirty minutes.

Others are simply unrealistic, for example, stating that they want to play professional sports or use important personal contacts to get them out, suggesting their inability to imagine real alternatives. This Vice Lord focused on the importance of gun control: “Got to find the people selling guns. Who sell guns? […] What do you need guns for? Can’t nobody shoot nobody if they don’t got no guns.” These two Satan’s Disciples saw some good in the mayor’s community development efforts but raised the question of jobs: “I think he got a good plan, […] buildin’ up these good communities, you know what I mean, all these condos! […] It’s a start. But he has to get back down to, like, the economy.” All of those interviewed expressed interest in returning to school and getting a degree or additional education. This Gangster talked about how sick and tired he is of street life: “[Other guys on the street say] we don’t like you, this and that, pick a fight for no 45 Caldiera, Teresa P.P. 2000. City of Walls: Crime, Segregation, and Citizenship in Sao Paulo. Berkeley: University of California.Caldiera, Walls of Segregation.

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reason. You trying to going to school, to be somebody and that’s what I want. To stay out of trouble.” On the other hand, the lure of the streets is very powerful: “You know what I’m sayin’? Sell drugs, or gang bang. I mean, it’s, it’s just like a cycle....It get borin’ after awhile, but this is what you like to do everyday.” III. SOCIAL PROGRAMMES TARGETING COAV Chicago Violence Intervention Programmes Programmes that work with gangs and violence have a long tradition in Chicago. Many programmes today duplicate some of the main characteristics of the Chicago Area Project,46 founded in 1934 as a community-based answer to juvenile delinquency and still active today. In the 1940s and 1950s Saul Alinksy’s community organising became the paradigm for community action and delinquency prevention programmes.47 These programmes typically hire ‘detached’ workers, who are often former gang members, to do gang outreach. While homicide rates have remained high in Chicago (as opposed to other US cities), this should be seen as a consequence of structural factors, such as the strong presence of institutionalised gangs, rather than of the ineffectiveness of the city’s violence prevention programmes. In addition, Chicago police have typically responded to gang violence with intensive and aggressive patrols, which typically displaces violence rather than end it.48 Psychological approaches to ‘black on black’ violence By the 1980s, ‘black on black’ violence had become a crucial issue in Chicago’s African American community, where more than two-thirds of city homicides took place. In Chicago, psychologist Carl Bell argued that high rates of violence led to post traumatic stress syndrome, a war-related disorder.49 Bell found that more than a quarter of black children in poor neighbourhoods had witnessed a homicide, and argued that many of the youth who became perpetrators could have been reached with clinical treatment after exposure to violence. The Chicago Department of Youth and Child Services provides psychological services for children who are exposed to violence, although funding levels for such services 46

Many studies have examined the characteristics of this project, including the following: Carey, James T. 1990, “The People Versus the Experts: The Chicago Area Project.” Unpublished paper at the University of Illinois-Chicago; Finestone, Harold. 1976. “The Delinquent and Society: The Shaw and McKay Tradition.” In Delinquency, Crime, and Society, ed. James F. Jr. Short. Chicago: University of Chicago; Schlossman, Steven, and Michael Sedlak. 1983. “The Chicago Area Project Revisited.” Santa Monica, California: The Rand Corporation and Schlossman, Steven L., Gail Zellman, and Richard Schavelson 1984 Delinquency Prevention in South Chicago. Santa Monica, California: Rand Corporation; Sorrentino, Anthony. 1959. “The Chicago Area Project After 25 Years.” 47 Alinksy, Saul 1946. Reveille for Radicals. Chicago: University of Chicago. 48 Blumstein, Alfred, and Joel Wallman, eds. 1999. The Crime Drop in America. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press. 49 E.g. Bell, Carl C., and Esther Jenkins, J. 1991. ‘Traumatic Stress and Children.’ Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved 2.

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are quite low. Teenagers who participate in organised, armed violence are either detained within the juvenile justice system or ‘waived’50 to adult court and sentenced to prison. The Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) makes some attempt to identify violent youthful offenders and provide counselling. The programmes, however, will only provide services for a child under 12 if he or she is in immediate danger. A DCFS spokesman said they would not provide services to any ‘delinquent’ involved in violence. Violence intervention programmes, information technology, and culture In the US, cities with high rates of violence are either marginal to the information economy — like Detroit or Milwaukee — or have large sections of the city that are socially isolated and excluded from the new economy. Direct approaches to violent behaviour need to be supplemented with programmes that promise hope, such as through exposure of youth in poor minority communities to information technologies. Cultural approaches, such as through the arts or sports, have proven to be effective as well and can reach youth who otherwise would not be open to intervention. For example, the researcher’s work has combined mural projects with rival gangs and training in web page design for gang members.51 Youth need to see there will be jobs that can give them hope for the future, and cultural and sporting activities are effective ways to attract gang youth and offer alternatives. Two programmes directed at Chicago’s youth display these contrasting, but complementary, approaches. Good Practice Case Study 1: Operation Ceasefire The largest ‘detached worker’ programme in Chicago today is Operation Ceasefire,52 a multimillion-dollar state-funded intervention through the University of Illinois-Chicago School of Public Health. Formed in 1995, the project is a citywide and regional effort to reduce violence in communities that account for a large portion of the homicides. Its mission is to work with community, city, county, state and federal partners in order to reduce street violence, namely killings and shootings using a public health approach. This approach includes developing clarity, and full commitment, to specific objectives: the setting of long term and short term goals; strategy development based on best practices but adapted to the local situation by local practitioners; and a management structure that works at both community and city/county levels. Ceasefire’s target population is youth and young adults. The project’s outreach workers have worked with 902 ‘clients’ or young people between June 2001 and December 2002. The typical services are referrals to school, work, substance abuse programs, and mental health services. 50

In the United States, children under 18 are supposed to be treated within a juvenile justice system whose goal is ‘the best interests of the child.” Children , as young as 10, who commit murder or other acts of armed violence, are routinely ‘waived’ into adult court, meaning their status as a juvenile is terminated and they are judged in adult court. 51 Hagedorn, John M. 1998. People and Folks: Gangs, Crime, and the Underclass in a Rustbelt City. Second Edition ed. Chicago: Lakeview Press. 52 For more information, see the program website: http://www.ceasefirechicago.org/main_pages/ getinfo.html

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Operation Ceasefire claims success in its interventions, including decreases in shooting incidents, measured by police reports in all of the neighbourhoods where they have detached workers. West Garfield Park, for example, saw a 67% reduction in shootings in both 2000 and 2001. Like policies of intensive patrol by police, community approaches to violence in a certain area can be effective in displacing violence, while having minimal impact on violence citywide. Good Practice Case Study 2: Street Level Youth Media Chicago’s Street-Level Youth Media53 is a cultural approach to Chicago’s ‘at-risk’ youth. It provides educational opportunities for inner-city youth in media arts and emerging technologies for use in self-expression, communication, and social change. The programmes seek to build self-esteem and critical thinking skills for city youth who have been historically neglected by policy-makers and the mass media, and include skills building in video production, computer art and the Internet. The first pilot programme, Neutral Ground, demonstrated how media can transform a community. Using cameras to create a series of video letters, rival gangs who had never spoken face-to-face developed a dialogue about identity. Through video, they taught each other how to communicate and for at least a short while, a truce was brokered between the opposing factions. Today, Neutral Ground Youth is a drop-in centre and online magazine for young people on Chicago’s West Side. SLYM does not depend on charity for its existence, but instead bases its support on earned income for hard work and quality programmes. By partnering with the city, in 2001 SLYM was able to develop job programmes that paid out more than $80,000 in youth salaries. Recommendations Structural factors create the conditions for persistent violence in Chicago and need to be addressed along with programmatic efforts. The lack of jobs and poor education in poor African American and Latino communities fuels gang involvement and is related to violence. Poverty, unemployment, and failing schools, however, do not automatically lead to high rates of violence. In Chicago, thousands of families and entire branches of gangs have been displaced to the suburbs as the poor are driven out of city centre areas. This has contributed to keeping drug markets volatile as the displaced drug sellers violently compete with established gangs for customers. In addition, police repression has not stamped out gangs but has succeeded in fragmenting them, thus added intra-gang to inter-gang violence. What is needed in Chicago to reduce organised armed violence is a combination of youth programmes, institutional reform, and structural change. Specifically, policy-makers should strive to: • End the forced migration of public housing tenants to other parts of the city and the rehabilitation of their present homes or new homes in the same area;

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For more information, see the project website at: http://streetlevel.iit.edu

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• End the reliance of poor Chicago neighbourhoods on the gang’s drug economy, licit jobs and economic development are needed in poor communities (i.e., if crop substitution is good for Colombia, it should also be good for Chicago); • Change police practice around the ‘war on drugs’: generally ignore small-scale, non-violent, survival strategies like most neighbourhood drug-selling, as this is often the only option for work for marginalised sectors such as those who join gangs; • Economically support and promote neighbourhood-based conflict mediation programmes that employ former gang members; and • Economically support and promote cultural and computer-based programmes for youth, especially gang-affiliated youth. Conclusion While in all cities, a few children commit individual acts of armed violence, it is only in cities with institutionalised gangs that we can speak of children or youth participating in organised armed violence. Children, adolescents and youths that play armed roles in the city’s institutionalised gangs conduct much of the organised armed violence in Chicago. The access to guns combined with decades old gang rivals and competition for drug markets spurs violence on. The fracturing of Chicago’s gangs through police repression and demoralisation have led to a crisis in leadership which has provoked continued violence that is out of the control of the newer gang leaders who have replaced the older, jailed, leadership. The displacement of African American families through the tearing down of public housing has unsettled drug markets in receiving communities and disoriented gang drugsellers. Similarly, gentrification has displaced Latino residents but also changed the nature of local drug markets and provided the gangs with a more upscale market. While organised armed violence among children is declining in most parts of the United States, Chicago has seen little change over the last decade. More than 600 people are murdered each year in the city of Chicago, more than in any other US city. Homicide rates for children and young adults have plummeted in most major cities that do not have institutionalised gangs. The early 1990s were the height of the US drug ‘wars’ and the sharp increases in offenders and victims were largely due to black and Hispanic kids in gangs with guns. The declines in the 1990s meant that in most cities those kids ceased to kill one another at the same rate. There is no academic consensus on the reasons for the ‘crime drop’. Clearly, the stability of drug markets after years of warfare contributed to the sharp declines. However, as noted above, these sharp declines did not occur everywhere.

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PART VI CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The conclusions below bring together identified commonalities of the investigated armed groups and their members in relation to the research variables. By no means does this attempt to detract from the heterogeneity of the groups or their members, or ignore the diversity of the settings in which they operate. Rather, these conclusions are used as a tool to aid in the formulation of the recommendations that follow. Organised armed groups 1. Settings: Organised armed groups in urban areas do not affect entire cities in a uniform manner. Groups are territorial and generally active only in defined areas. These areas are distinct from the cities that surround them, often distinguished by names such as favelas, comunas, colonias, townships or ghettos, and tend to be relatively poor, underdeveloped and distanced from the state by differentiated public policies such as the absence or limited presence of state security forces, or the inadequate provision of public services. These areas may have a high population density and almost always have disproportionately high levels of unemployment and low levels of formal education amongst youth. Organised armed groups active in rural settings are also territorial and dominate areas that share most of the above characteristics, with the exception of high population density. 2. Background: The majority of groups investigated have a medium to long-term history and do not have criminal origins. All groups have transformed over time to become armed or more armed, violent or more violent, and involved or more involved in criminal enterprise. This transformation has been due to growing involvement in the illicit drug trade, increased access to small arms and persistent and often violent state repression. Ethnicity or clan allegiance play an important role in the formation and identity of just under half of the groups investigated. Rather than existing independently from the societies in which they operate, armed groups are often reflective of the environments in which they were established, especially in their use of violence. 3. Structure: There are three types of command structure used by the investigated groups: a military hierarchy with a ranking system; a formally organised or corporate structure; and an informal horizontal structure that may have decentralised local branches. The type of command structures utilised does not reflect the levels of violence in which groups are involved, although such military hierarchies tend to be used by the more militarised groups which are more frequently in confrontation with state security forces. Groups may be organised at the local, city, national or international levels. Most groups have structural links to imprisoned members, often leaders, and all groups use physical punishments, including 335

death, to discipline members.1 Estimates of the number of members in all investigated armed groups are limited; however, it is believed to run into the tens of thousands within each of the countries covered by this study. Accurately estimating the number of under eighteen year-old members is also difficult; however, joining armed groups is an adolescent experience for many and the majority of group members in all case studies are youths. 4. Community domination: Groups that are not openly armed in the community, except during conflict, tend not to control the activities of local residents, restrict their movements or protect them from crime. These groups also tend to be located in areas where state security forces are present, however sporadically. Groups that are an openly armed presence in the community tend to have a monopoly on ‘social ordering’, often through the maintenance of parallel laws and the provision of justice, may restrict the activities and movements of local residents, and tend to be located in areas with a very limited presence or complete absence or state security forces, where public services may be intermittent partly due to the armed group’s ostensibly armed presence. Both groups that conceal their weapons and those that are openly armed may financially support local community projects, such as crèches, although the latter tend to do this more frequently. 5. State relations: The state has a direct or indirect role in the activities of all investigated groups. In the majority of cases this is an indirect relationship through the involvement of corrupt low-level state representatives, such as policemen, via the sale of firearms, reception of bribes and/or participation in illegal drug dealing. In three case studies, groups were working directly with state security forces, being funded by government representatives or had been known to receive political patronage in return for guaranteeing votes from local residents. 6. Economic activities: All groups are involved in illicit economies and territorial domination is their base for financial gain. All groups are involved in criminal activities; in some cases this includes organised crime and in others only delinquency and street crimes, such as robberies. Groups in all countries but one are involved in the drug trade through cultivation, domestic transportation or street sales. A minority of groups are also involved in licit enterprises, such as transport services. A strong economic base gives groups the ability to become financially self-sufficient and to arm themselves, both of which make them more attractive to disenfranchised adolescents and youth. Half of the groups investigated pay fixed salaries, others pay through commission-based drug sales or logistical support for members’ involvement in profitable criminal activities. 7. Armed violence: Groups are involved in armed confrontations with other armed groups on a varying scale mostly over control of territory (primarily for economic reasons and the control of illicit markets) and rivalry (related to self-definition, ideals, ethnicity, clan-alliances or beliefs). A number of armed groups also carry out armed violence, such as summary executions, through their involvement in vigilantism. All groups are involved in armed violence because of their participation in crime, and often due to internal disputes. Type 1 groups also come into conflict with state forces for a number of reasons, including in reaction to police or military actions. 1

The smaller pandillas of Ecuador are the exception to this and tend not to kill members.

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8. Typology: Utilising the criteria established by the working definition of organised armed violence2 and combining Categorical Judgement and Comparative Judgement3 techniques, three types of armed groups are identified. Type 1 groups are a ‘quasi-military’ and openly armed presence, exert high levels of control over the local population, dominate both licit and illicit local resources, fight directly with state forces if necessary and use war-grade weapons. Type 3 groups have less militarised characteristics and are not an openly armed force, have less control over local populations within the areas they dominate, control illicit local resources only, avoid direct confrontations with the state and are more representative of traditional notions of ‘youth’ or ‘street’ gangs. Type 2 groups are those that share characteristics of both Type 1 and Type 3 groups. The level of violence in which groups are involved is not related to their type, although Type 1 groups are more detrimental to the socioeconomic development of the areas they dominate due to: 1) the prolonged and militarised types of violence in which they participate; and 2) the high levels of domination over population, territory and resources that they exert, usually in place of the state. 9. Structural risk factors: The following external risk factors are identified as causal and/or contributory to the establishment and continued local dominance of Types 1, 2 and 3 groups: urban enclaves of poverty; a high percentage of youth in the local population that suffer disproportionately low levels of education and disproportionately high levels of unemployment; a limited or differentiated state presence in certain areas; state representatives being open to corruption; government reliance upon repressive and violent state apparatus against group members and non-involved residents of the communities in which they are active; group access to illicit economies such as drug trafficking; and group access to small arms. There appears to be a correlation between the degree to which a specific area suffers these risk factors and the type of group that emerges; Type 1 groups are more typically present in areas that suffer these structural risk factors to the greatest degree, especially when state security forces are absent. Children and youth in organised armed violence 1. Personal histories: A significant number of child and youth respondents reported coming from single parent families (typically matriarchal), overcrowded homes, having poor relations with other family members including parents and suffering from domestic violence. Almost all respondents were school dropouts who had failed to finish primary/secondary level education due to poverty, not seeing school as worthwhile, being expelled for poor and often violent behaviour or leaving because of a greater presence of rival group members within their school. Failing to finish school is seen as a cyclical problem, as many respondents reported that their parents had attained equally low levels of education. Nearly all respondents considered themselves to come from poor or relatively poor backgrounds. 2. Process of involvement: The average age at which respondents from all countries involved in this study joined armed groups was 13 years and six months.4 The age that young people 2

See ‘Methodology’. See ‘Typology of Armed Groups’. 4 Excluding Nigeria, where interviewees had joined ethnic-militia and vigilante groups on average between 1516 years of age. 3

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are joining appears to have been decreasing in most countries since the 1980s. This is due to the increasing involvement of almost all groups in the drug trade and the consequent openings in street-level jobs for local adolescents. It is also due to the fact that children have been increasingly born into communities in which armed groups have already established a dominant presence. Joining an armed group is not a one-off event but rather a gradual process that may take months or even years to complete. The following five stages are identified for this process in all case studies, although some stages may be missed out in some cases, or take place in a different order in others: 1) Exposure to the group by setting (association by neighbourhood); 2) Introduction by family or friends; 3) Transitional phase (‘hanging out’ and doing favours or being given small jobs or apprenticeships); 4) Full membership (considered as trustworthy, may have right of passage); 5) Armed (given a firearm). An abundance of young adolescent males seeking to join their local armed group means that an active recruitment policy is unnecessary in most cases; only in two countries were investigated groups found to actively recruit. 3. Why children and youth join: For most interviewees, joining an armed group was a rational decision rather than simply ‘deviant’ or ‘criminal’ behaviour. Joining an armed group gives a young person the ability to actively respond to the following risk factors: poverty/ inequality; a lack of economic alternatives due to poor levels of education and high unemployment; social marginalisation; violence from state forces or other armed groups; problems in the home; and a lack of leisure facilities. There are also a number of identified influences that play an important role in young people’s decision to join an armed group. Although these risk factors and influences are common to all young people living in high-risk environments, the majority of children and youths in such areas do not join an armed group. ‘Choosing’ to join an armed group depends on personal context, which is made up of the types of influences and options an individual has access to. Children and youths in highrisk environments are more vulnerable to joining local armed groups when their personal contexts offer few options to respond to risk factors, and are susceptible to influences that encourage them to join. Children and youths are more resilient to joining local armed groups when their personal contexts offer varied options to respond to risk factors, and they are less susceptible to influences that encourage them to join, usually due to the presence of stronger and more supportive influences. Local diagnosis that charts prevalent local risk factors and influences may help design specific interventions that affect young people’s personal contexts in order to boost resilience amongst them. 4. Working functions: In all groups, children and youths are subordinate to adults or older youths. All groups have a system of rules for internal discipline, working functions and/or having a clear and defined identity. All groups maintain rules through punishment including physical beatings and death (the latter in all but one case study). Two of the investigated groups have rules to protect their youngest members. However, in all cases notions of entering adulthood are not based on a numerical age, but rather on the ability to carry out working functions, use a firearm or local cultural beliefs. Working functions can be divided into two categories: non-armed and armed. Non-armed functions include: lookouts; informants and spies; carrying, cleaning and guarding guns; and other supportive roles. Armed 338

functions include: bodyguard/protective escort; guarding territory and property; armed patrols; manning tolls and check points; drug dealing and crime; assassinations; and participation in armed confrontations. In all cases except commission-based drug dealing child and youth workers are paid less than their adult counterparts. Child and youth workers may be paid by a fixed salary, on commission, per criminal act, with token gifts or by logistical support to carry out profitable criminal activity. 5. Children, youth and armed violence: Within the context of territorial and other disputes, carrying out criminal activities and upholding internal discipline in the group or social order within the community, all armed groups arm minors.5 With the exception of respondents in Nigeria and Jamaica, all respondents talked of being armed between 12 and 14 years. Most groups have a cache of arms under the control higher-ranking members. The level of training given to members greatly varies between groups although in most cases respondents were already familiar with firearms from growing up in communities with high levels of gun violence and seeing firearms in the street or with family and/or friends. Being exposed to gun violence before joining an armed group was also common to the majority of respondents. Once in armed groups, most children and youth interviewed had been shot at or hit by gunfire. Two respondents interviewed for this study were shot and killed before fieldwork was completed. Minors and youths in all armed groups investigated shoot at and murder other people. In addition to becoming psychologically affected, participating in lethal violence also caused respondents to express a very fatalistic attitude toward their own deaths occurring violently and soon. When comparing available public health statistics such as fire-arms related mortality rates between investigated countries since 1979, we find that: minors have been consistently more affected by injury as a cause of death than the general population, and this has increased disproportionately amongst this group over time; firearms-related deaths as a percentage of all deaths by external causes has increased disproportionately more amongst minors than for the total population in all localities compared6 ; in all cases gun deaths most affect young males between 15 and 24 years of age; when attempting to gain more precise knowledge of the involvement of armed group members in gun violence there is a need for specific public health and mortality data that can differentiate the target group by age, gender and specific locality; and due to limitations in acquiring relevant statistics for these comparisons, there is a need for a unified global data bank regarding violence related statistics. 6. Gender considerations: the majority of respondents (92%) from organised armed groups were male. In most investigated groups female members are in the minority or are not present at all. Like boys, girls that do join armed groups come from poor communities and face many of the same socio-economic disadvantages as their male counterparts, are school dropouts and may join for similar reasons, such as for protection. In the majority of armed groups female members do not use firearms or they use them to a lesser degree than male members, tending instead to rely on other weapons such as knives. This differential usage of firearms 5

Except for some of the smaller pandillas in Ecuador. With the exception of El Salvador where firearms-related deaths as a percentage of all deaths by external causes have decreased amongst both the under 18 year-old age group and the total population.

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means that girls are much less affected by gun death in all countries covered by this study (where homicide rates were available). Because gun usage, as well as joining an armed group, is associated with notions of ‘manhood’ in many of the communities where investigated armed groups exist, adolescent males are more prone to join an armed group and use a firearm. More research on gender roles within armed groups is needed in order to divert this trend and: understand why some girls do join; learn about the specific demobilisation, reintegration or rehabilitation needs of girls and women; investigate to what extent the actions of mothers, sisters and girlfriends support boys and men joining armed groups; see whether ‘camp followers’ are also a phenomenon of organised armed groups that function outside of armed conflict; and investigate if sexual violence influences the behaviour and involvement of girls, boys, men and women in armed groups. 7. Future perspectives: In all cases leaving an armed group can be dangerous and potentially lethal. However, if done in the correct manner it is possible. Respondents were not unanimous in their desire to leave their groups. Some did not want to leave because of feelings of belonging and excitement. Others had a fatalistic acceptance of their situation, claiming to have no choice. Those that wanted to leave said they would only do so if they got jobs or if the state/society/community helped them. Almost all respondents stated that they did not want their younger siblings involved, and that to guarantee this there is a need for more jobs, alternatives instead of repression, gun control and investments in sports and cultural activities. Most had a negative view of their lifestyles and regardless of whether they wanted to leave or not, the majority were hopeless about their futures. A common feeling amongst respondents was that the responsibility for them to leave the group depended primarily on the actions of others. This may reflect limited options rather than an outright lack of interest amongst respondents in leaving their group altogether. However, whether respondents wanted to leave their groups or not, having viable socio-economic alternatives is fundamental to a young person being able to really make such a choice, and equally important to preventing future generations from becoming involved. Treatment 1. Current trends in public policy: In all countries covered by this study governments are focusing on repressive tactics to deal with children and youth in organised armed violence. Government repression may be via legislation that singles out youth groups or their members, repressive and increasingly militarised policing policies, the detention and imprisonment of group members or their summary execution. State prevention and rehabilitation programmes are often limited, under-funded or non-existent, and in some cases organised armed violence is not recognised as a specific problem by government. Although there are some notable exceptions where repressive tactics have effectively treated the problem of armed violence in urban centres, in the case of children and youth in organised armed violence, focusing solely on repression will tend to be ineffective as: it does not deal with the root causes of the problem; the juvenile justice and penal systems in most countries covered by this study are inadequate and may even worsen the problem; and armed groups tend to become more organised and increasingly violent when faced only with repressive tactics. 340

2. Local interventions: To truly treat the problem of children and youth in organised armed violence it is necessary to eliminate the external risk factors identified as causal and/or contributory to both the establishment and continued existence of armed groups, and those risk factors that directly affect young people within high-risk environments. However, as eradicating these risk factors is a lengthy and difficult process, local level interventions that boost resilience amongst children and youth in affected areas is a more effective and concurrent strategy for the short-term. Despite the diversity of the best-practice projects and programmes presented, their success comes from being able to offer children and young people the chance to respond to the risk factors they face within their environments without joining an armed group. The most successful of these projects offer beneficiaries sufficient options and supportive influences necessary to respond to all or most of the risk factors in their environment, rather than just one or two, thus affecting their personal context. Other factors for success include: being community based; responding to locally-identified risk factors and influences; designing integrated and personalised projects; working with family members; integrating involved and non-involved young people in local projects; and involving the target group in the design, coordination and evaluation of the project wherever possible. Psychological support for young people that have participated in and experienced high levels of violence is also beneficial. 3. Strategic approaches: In order to stop organised armed violence rather than merely geographically displacing it, integrated, localised and personalised projects that build resilience amongst children and youth should be part of municipal or regional prevention and rehabilitation strategies. These strategies should be based on local analysis and coordinated jointly by stakeholders such as the government, the police and civil society groups. Strategies should include: a network of locally-based interventions; integration with macro-level programmes working to treat structural risk factors; the involvement of the juvenile justice system and adult prisons; conflict resolution between groups and protection programmes for members leaving under threat; and the building of local, national and international advocacy and networking mechanisms. 4. Disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration: as with child drug faction workers in Rio de Janeiro, child and youth members from many of the armed groups investigated by this study also have much in common with child soldiers in more traditionally defined situations of armed conflict: all come from poor communities in which local armed groups have a strong presence; most are school dropouts who become involved during their early to mid teens, often seeking protection, status, financial reward, survival and/or the chance for revenge; they carry out many non-armed and armed functions that are almost identical to documented cases of child soldiers; and in almost all cases these young people have witnessed killings, have been involved in exchanges of gunfire (in some cases with state forces) and many have killed. Children and youth in organised armed violence are not child soldiers and should not be referred to as such. However, there is much to gain from exchanging knowledge of good practice for the treatment of both distinct yet similar situations for the advancement of sound methodological practice and the design, development and implementation of ‘ddr’ programmes in urban non-war situations, as well as making DDR programmes in armed or post-conflict settings more effective. 341

RECOMMENDATIONS 1. Recognition: The growing involvement of children and youth in organised armed groups outside of situations of war is a distinct problem that needs to be recognised by both international child protection agencies and national governments.7 Recognition of children and youth in organised armed violence is important because the accepted definition of this phenomenon determines the treatment of those involved. An accepted definition is also an important step toward focusing on the involved child or young person’s needs and welfare, rather than just the armed group to which they belong, when deciding strategies for treatment. 2. Specific and integrated municipal/regional policies based on local diagnosis: Although they share numerous commonalities in causality, organisation, function and setting, organised armed groups are distinct entities in different environments. The findings from this study offer greater understanding of their nature and provide a model for the design of local interventions and municipal level strategies to treat the problem. However, there is no quick fix or uniformly applicable remedy. Specific policies for specific manifestations of this problem are needed. Policies should be based on local diagnosis that: • Identifies the local manifestation of organised armed violence; • Identifies structural risk factors that are causal and/or contributory to the establishment and continued dominance of local armed groups; • Identifies the risk group that are most involved; • Identifies risk factors and influences that are causal and/or contributory to children and youth ‘choosing’ to join local armed groups. Once this is complete, a strategic and integrated policy that concurrently treats the structural risk factors (Recommendation 3) and develops local level resilience amongst children and youth (Recommendations 4 to 6) should be designed and implemented at the municipal/regional level. 3. Treatment of structural risk factors: Structural risk factors that are causal and/or contributory to the establishment and continued dominance of local armed groups must be addressed. These may be different in each setting. However, recommendations follow for the treatment of the structural risk factors that were found to be common in all or most case studies. Socio-economic inclusion of populations within distinct urban areas: organised armed groups flourish in geographically distinct urban enclaves of poverty that are often distanced from the state via the provision of differentiated or inadequate public services to the local population. These areas need investment in infrastructure and local residents need health, education and employment programmes for their full socio-economic inclusion. Until these areas are an integrated part of the cities that surround them, armed groups will continue to have geographical and logistical bases. 7

At the time of publication, recognition of the problem amongst some international agencies was beginning to take place. For example, the involvement of armed child workers in Rio de Janeiro’s drug factions was reported in the Brazil section of the 2004 Child Soldiers Global Report (Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, 2004, www.child-soldiers.org).

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Fast track educational inclusion and job opportunities for all youth: a high percentage of youth in the local population with disproportionately low levels of education and disproportionately high levels of unemployment is common to all areas where armed groups are dominant, almost all youth members being unemployed school dropouts. Youths need to know they will have access to jobs in the future if they are to be encouraged to stay in school. Combining education courses with paid part-time work placements is one way of ensuring young people finish their education rather than seek illicit enterprises, including joining an armed group. Community policing: in all areas where groups are active the presence of state security forces is of a limited or differentiated nature. A reliance on reactive and repressive policing policies within these areas has led to poor relations between the local community and police. In some areas, security forces are not present at all, which encourages armed groups to become an openly armed presence. Within both such scenarios local residents are more likely to support dominant armed groups in their communities than the police. The police need to be a constant and respected presence within the community if they are to gain the support of local residents and stop armed groups becoming an openly armed fixture. Deal with corruption and impunity: most armed groups benefit greatly from corrupt low-level state officials, especially the police. It is fundamental that corruption within such areas of the state apparatus is dealt with in order to lessen the dominion of armed groups within the territories where they are active, and end the impunity exercised by their members. It is also important to stop corrupt police officers being a source of illicit firearms and confiscated drugs. Policing is necessary, illegal violence by state forces is not: reliance solely upon a repressive and violent state apparatus against group members and non-involved residents of the communities in which they are active often serves to turn the community against the state and support or protect local armed groups. Abuse of authority may also lead to armed groups becoming increasingly armed, organised and violent in their response to state action. Policing is necessary; however, it is fundamental that the police act within the boundaries of the law both because it is the law, and in order to gain the community’s support. Police abuse of power must be publicly dealt with by government. Gun control: extensive access to small arms is common to all groups due to lax state gun control and the illicit arms trade. In Northern Ireland, stringent gun control by the government in the form of arms seizures and prosecutions, and the control exerted by paramilitaries themselves in order to maintain their power base in communities, has effectively kept guns out of the hands of children and youths and meant that firearms-related deaths stayed relatively low during the last few years of the conflict and since the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. As this example clearly demonstrates, gun control is crucial to lowering group access to small arms, and consequently the number of gun deaths. Drug policy reform: in nine out of ten countries covered by this study, groups make their profit from the illegal drug trade. Access to illicit economies such as drug trafficking makes armed groups financially self-sufficient and provides the necessary funds to buy arms and bribe government/state officials. Governments have been unsuccessful in stopping drugs from entering illicit markets and repression has served to push prices up, greatly increasing 343

violent competition between drug traffickers as well as their profits, and leading to the employment of increasingly militarised tactics by both drug trafficking groups and the police. Furthermore, police abuse of power is often carried out under the aegis of ‘drug control’, wherein the demonisation of drugs and drug traffickers is such that the use of excessive force by the police, and even the summary executions of drug traffickers, becomes accepted practice. Alternative drug policies could have a major impact on the employment of children and youth in organised armed violence. Cross-country policy comparisons of non-repressive drug policy should be carried out and promising alternatives identified. By limiting the degrees to which the above risk factors affect specific areas, it may be possible to make armed groups a less present, active and dominant local force, or to transform Type 1 groups into Type 2 or 3 groups. Treating structural risk factors should be done in an integrated manner, and concurrently to building resilience at the local level (Recommendations 4 to 6) 4. Build resilience through a network of community-based prevention interventions: Integrated networks of community based prevention interventions should be established at the municipal/regional level. Interventions should be based on local diagnosis and designed to identify and successfully engage the most at-risk children and youth, affecting their personal contexts by providing sufficient options and supportive influences for them to respond to prevalent risk factors within their environment without joining local armed groups. Local community-based organisations, such as existing grassroots NGOs or local churches, should receive training to coordinate prevention projects locally, and act in an integrated fashion via participation in the network. Network participation can be encouraged through members having access to training, funding opportunities and other forms of support. 5. Build resilience through a network of community based and institutional rehabilitation programmes: In addition to prevention, children and young people must be offered ways out of armed groups when they choose to leave or when they are apprehended by the authorities. Rehabilitation programmes at community level for those that choose to leave and within closed institutions should follow a similar methodology to prevention programmes; having sufficient options and supportive influences to respond to prevalent risk factors is as important to build resilience amongst children and youth already involved as it is for those ‘choosing’ not to join. Similar to prevention projects, community-based rehabilitation projects should be based on local diagnosis of the problem, be coordinated by specially capacitated and existing local organisations (where possible), and co-ordinated strategically via a network of local organisations/government at the municipal/regional level. Projects in the community must also design the correct strategies to safely contact involved children and young people within affected communities, and be integrated with state rehabilitation programmes within closed facilities in order that young people can continue to be rehabilitated after leaving detention. 6. Reform the juvenile justice system: For children and young people that do not opt to leave organised armed groups, the only window of opportunity for prolonged contact with them is their possible apprehension and detention within the juvenile justice system. In many 344

of the countries covered by this study, juvenile detention centres are overcrowded, violent and abusive, and have inadequate facilities to successfully rehabilitate youth offenders. Youth detention facilities are in need of drastic reforms in order to stop the maltreatment of inmates and offer the necessary educational, job training and rehabilitation programmes. 7. Focus on inclusion rather than just repression: The application of the law by the police is necessary to deal with organised armed violence. However, government dependence upon solely repressive legislative, military, policing and incarceration policies for the treatment of organised armed violence has failed to treat the root causes of the problem and has been unsuccessful in counteracting the existence of armed groups, their dominion over local territories, populations and resources or the participation of children and youth within them. Furthermore, in areas where such policy has been relied upon, public health statistics do not demonstrate a fall in the firearms-related homicide rates over time; on the contrary, in many cases this has risen considerably within these localities since 1979. Increasingly militarised action from governments has so far only led to an increasingly militarised response from armed groups. Rather than just relying on repressive and military tactics, policing and legislative policies must focus on prevention and rehabilitation in order to offer involved children and youths the necessary support to opt for alternatives to armed group membership. 8. Disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration: The similarities in causality and function between children and youth working for politically-oriented armed groups in armed conflicts and children and youth in organised armed violence is considerable. Disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) are therefore applicable to both situations of war and organised armed violence. Organisations working with DDR of child soldiers and CAAC8 , and those with reintegration projects of child and youth armed group members in non-war situations have much to learn from one another. Knowledge of good practice examples of prevention, rehabilitation and DDR interventions in both situations should be exchanged and compared for the advancement of sound methodological practice and the design, development and implementation of ‘ddr’ programmes in urban non-war situations. 9. Engage groups in dialogue wherever possible: In order to ensure significant participation, wherever possible, and especially with Type 1 and 2 groups, group leaders should be contacted and encouraged to assist in the design of disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programmes for their members. A number of projects have successfully engaged armed youth actors in social projects and reintegration programmes, and in El Salvador and Guatemala for example, pandillas have even requested meetings with government representatives, and vice-versa. Including those youths open to discussion in how to lessen their participation in gun violence will greatly improve the success of programmes with that objective. Different methods of negotiation and dialogue may be needed for Type 3 groups. These may be similar to conflict resolution tactics with armed groups in situations of armed conflict, and these techniques need to be learned, adapted and evaluated by those working with organised armed violence for their use in non-war situations. Conflict resolution between groups should also be focused on by the authorities in order to limit gun violence. 8

Children Affected by Armed Conflict.

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10. Monitoring legally recognised armed groups: Some ethnic-militia and vigilante groups in Nigeria and the Civilian Volunteer Organisations in the Philippines are legally recognised. In addition to DDR programmes for child members, these groups need to be closely monitored by government to ensure they are not armed, do not act outside of the law and do not use child labour. 11. Need for better and more specific violence-related data: An independent and unified global data bank that records comparable violence-related data is needed if the levels of violence in which armed groups are involved are to be recorded and monitored. This includes public health statistics such as detailed and comparable firearms-related homicide data relevant to the profile of group members within the specific communities in which armed groups are active. **** The evidence presented here suggests that the involvement of children and youth in organised armed violence is a growing phenomenon with diverse and distinct manifestations that share a significant number of commonalities. These commonalities are a great help to understanding these groups and their members better, and advancing methodological and practical approaches to treat this increasingly serious problem. The number and size of organised armed groups, the rise in child and youth participation within them, and the ever growing use of firearms amongst youth as a tool for dispute resolution and economic and social advancement, may lead one to imagine this is a hopeless and intractable situation. However, small grassroots projects are showing what is possible in terms of prevention and rehabilitation; techniques that if applied correctly can be more successful than simply relying on repression to lower firearms-related mortality rates in the long-term, or prevent those previously arrested for involvement in armed groups from re-offending in the short-term. The challenge for professionals working on this theme is whether the lessons learnt from such successful community-based interventions can be applied on a scale that can affect the problem on a neighbourhood or even citywide level. What is for certain, however, is that to substantially improve the chances of success, governments and the police must be willing to work together with relevant civil society organisations, community representatives and even involved youths themselves.

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